


Coffee Shop Blooms

by RookieSand



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, M/M, Older Characters, and it's not just haru's hair, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-06-18 14:54:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 61,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15488397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RookieSand/pseuds/RookieSand
Summary: One day a girl starts visiting the generally quiet shop of Leblanc. The two workers of the shop see the girl often and one of them starts falling for the girl. Perhaps a loving relationship will blossom here.





	1. Stranger in a Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my new fanfiction.  
> not all of my ships involve makoto i swear but that just seems to be who i want them to fall for.  
> if you like makoto and main character ships then please head on over to A Boring Summer To Love Young.  
> if you don't and prefer haru and makoto then you're in the right place.  
> hope you enjoy.

The Tokyo spring was just starting. It was April and the new school year had taken its hold on the youth. It was currently a quiet Sunday afternoon. The bell over the door to the small coffee shop tucked away in the back streets of Yongen-Jaya tinkled. A tired looking girl carrying several bags flopped into a booth in the back corner. The two attendants behind the counter shared a look.

They knew this girl well at this point. She’d been there every day that week. They hadn’t questioned it then; but now with her being here on a Sunday, they almost were starting to worry about her. Of course, that was none of their business why she was there every day. She was a paying customer after all. And if their boss had taught them anything it was to always be nice to paying customers even if you didn’t like them.

The boy behind the counter stepped closer to his coworker and smiled. “I took her last time, Haru,” he whispered. “It’s your turn.”

“I know,” the girl whispered back. “I’m just mentally preparing myself. She’s been here every day this week. Should we be worried?”

The boy shrugged and went back to tending the pot on the stove.

Haru stepped around the counter to visit the table that the girl had laid all her things out on. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this customer. The customer had a gruff look about her. It was unpleasant and unwelcoming. Her hair was chopped to her chin and almost looked like she’d cut it herself; though, Haru couldn’t fathom why she’d do that. Over the top of her head sat a braided hairband. She always said please and thank you but in the manner of someone who was doing it out of sheer ingrained politeness and not because she was actually mindful of those things. She was always dressed in dark, navy pants and a white, button-up shirt. Either she came from the same location every day or headed to the same location after she left. Haru wasn’t sure she liked her all that much but still found her incredibly intriguing. It was like a real-life mystery novel in the coffee shop. She liked that.

“Good afternoon,” Haru greeted warmly. “What can I get for you?”

“Just black coffee today, please,” the girl responded automatically. It was how she’d been ordering for the last three days.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?” Haru pressed. “Something to eat maybe?”

The girl lifted her head and looked at Haru for what seemed like the first time in a week. Her eyes were dull and unfocused. She rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes and took in a sharp breath. It made Haru take in a breath as well thinking she was about to get yelled at.

“Actually, yeah… I haven’t eaten yet today,” she said on the exhale. “What do you have?”

Haru was shocked that this girl who’d been coming for an entire week didn’t know what they sold other than coffee. She reached across the table for the small menu that was stuck in its stand with the salt and pepper shakers. She laid it in front of the girl gingerly. “That’s the menu.”

The girl took in the menu carefully. She read one side and then the other. “You guys don’t have a very big selection, huh?” she commented.

“We don’t have a very big store,” Haru responded. “But what we do make here is delicious.”

The girl nodded once. “What would you recommend?”

“Curry.”

“Curry?”

“Curry.”

The girl nodded again. “I’ll have curry then.”

“Coming right up.” 

She turned and walked back behind the counter. She gave a wide-eyed look to her coworker to say that this girl was definitely weird.

He could barely contain his laughter and she remembered that he’d had weirder jobs than working at a coffee shop. He used to work part-time at a bar in Shinjuku. He probably found her reaction funnier than the scene that had just occurred.

Haru got close to him and whispered, “Ren, what is up with that? She’s been here a week and never once read the menu?”

“People can’t read, Haru,” he responded quietly. He was currently busy getting a plate of curry ready to serve.

“It’s just weird. I don’t know. Like why is she here every day? What is her angle?”

“Why does she need to have an angle? We have regulars here. Now we have a new one.”

“Yeah but our regulars don’t come every day for a week straight with tons of stuff, take up a booth in the back for exactly one hour and a half, then leave, and repeat. That’s weird.”

He handed her the plate of curry and turned her around. He pushed her out towards the front counter again. “I think you’re thinking too much about this. Just don’t worry about it and give her service with a smile.”

Haru frowned. “You’re not going to blow this off like you usually do.” She went on her way and poured a cup of coffee at the counter. She took both the plate and the coffee and set it down on the girl’s table.

“Thank you,” the girl said without even looking at what had been set down. Haru could’ve served her probably anything and she wouldn’t have noticed.

“Enjoy,” Haru said politely. She dipped her head and scuttled back behind the counter.

Ren came up beside her, a dishrag in one hand and a dish in the other. The two watched the girl. She was busy scratching something in a notebook. She picked up the cup of coffee absently and took a sip. She seemed satisfied by that. Then she finally looked at the plate of curry. She grabbed the spoon and sampled a bit. After that, she started to eat hungrily as if having access to food made her realize how hungry she actually was.

“Weird,” Haru whispered. “So weird.”

“Again, I think you’re making a bigger deal out of this than need be,” Ren said. “I’ll even bet you that she will stop coming here.”

“Five thousand yen that she comes in every day for the next week,” Haru said.

“A high roller I see.”

She gave him a smile. “I play big, but my wallet can back me up. What about you?”

“Five thousand that she only comes in a couple times next week. If it’s not every day then you lose.”

“I think if she misses one day I still win.”

“Deal.”

They shook on it.

 

Haru won the bet.

The girl came every single day for the entire next week. It was Sunday again. Her new order was now coffee and curry. Ren was now starting to get concerned. The girl came in on Sunday afternoon at her regular time, sat in her regular booth, and laid out all the usual things she had with her. She got to work. She hadn’t been any nicer to the two of them and still seemed to be quite out of it.

“Do you want me to do it?” Ren asked Haru quietly. “Or are you going to?” 

“I’ll do it,” Haru responded. “But I have to ask her what is going on if I do. I can’t take it anymore. Two weeks?!”

“Be my guest,” Ren commented.

Haru went out from behind the counter and approached the table. The girl looked up at her before she could even speak.

“Good afternoon,” she said making Haru pause. She also had a smile on her face for once. “Can I get my usual, please?”

“Of-Of course,” Haru responded. She shot a look back at Ren who gave her a thumbs-up and started to get the order ready.

“You guys work a lot, huh?” the girl continued. “I feel like I see you every day.”

“Well, besides our boss, we’re the only two who work here,” Haru responded.

“Do either of you go to school?” the girl asked curiously.

“I do go to college, yes. Second year. He doesn’t. He’s hoping to take over this coffee shop.”

“I’m a second year in college too,” the girl said. She shifted in her seat to look at Haru better. “Sorry if I’ve been really weird these past two weeks,” she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly and Haru’s heart skipped a beat from the cute gesture. “I’ve been studying really hard for class and have been really out of it. We just started the new term and my teachers are already really tough on me. You two are actual lifesavers.”

Haru tilted her head to the side as Ren pulled up beside her with the plate of curry and a cup of coffee. He set them both down on the table.

“This place is right on my way to school,” the girl continued. “I’ve been coming here to study so I at least got some fresh air. And if you guys didn’t serve food I’d be dead right now. I honestly was so wrapped up in studying I forgot how to be a human for a bit there.” She gave them both a smile.

Ren was the first to recover and smiled back at her. “Well, I’m glad that we could keep you alive for the past two weeks. I’m Ren Amamiya, by the way. I feel like we should get on some sort of name basis since you’re basically funding this entire shop.”

The girl tilted her head and looked around. “I guess I hadn't noticed that it's fairly dead around here.” She paused. "Sorry, that probably sounded rude. I didn't mean to offend you."

Ren shook his head quickly and crossed his arms. “No, you're absolutely right. This location sucks and we don’t get a lot of business. But Boss doesn’t see any problem with it.”

Makoto nodded her head. She looked back at Haru with bright eyes. “And who are you?”

Haru blinked in surprise at being addressed. “Um, Haru Okumura,” she said politely.

“It’s a pleasure to meet both of you. I’m Makoto Niijima.”

Ren and Haru both dipped their heads at her.

“Enjoy your meal,” Ren said. He grabbed Haru’s hand and pulled her away to the counter. 

Makoto turned back to her food and started to eat without a second thought to the two of them.

Ren pulled Haru back into the kitchen and gave her a look. She looked back at him surprised by the sudden movement. He had pulled her as far into the back as they could possibly get and he was very close to her. She pressed a hand against his chest just to push him back a little bit.

“What was that?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know. She has real emotions.”

“Not her. You!” he corrected quickly. He was staring intently at her, still holding her hand. “What was that?”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

“She rubbed the back of her neck and you practically seized up.”

“I-I… I don’t… I-I didn’t!”

“Haru,” Ren said. He was almost giddy. “Do you like her?”

“I barely know her!” Haru protested. “And I…” She averted her gaze and chose to stare at the collar of his shirt instead. "I don't really fall for people like that."

Ren raised his eyebrow. “Okay, whatever you say. But I’m not usually wrong about these things.”

“Okay, Ren.” She pulled away from him. “But you should get back to work. Also, you owe me five thousand yen and I fully expect to be compensated.” She went back out to the front counter and sat on a stool behind the counter. She pulled out a book and started to read it.

It was tough going. Every so often she’d glance up to see how the only person in the store was doing. Makoto had finished her curry and was nursing her coffee. It was almost like she didn’t want to leave the store at all. She checked her watch several times in only a few minutes and then slowly started to gather her things. Haru felt her chest tighten.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder and made her jump.

“Go get her contact info,” Ren whispered into her ear. 

“Ren, I can’t just…”

“You can and you will.” He pulled her off of the stool and pushed her around the counter. “Go. Now.”

She took a sharp breath and then went forward towards Makoto. She grabbed the plate first as if she’d come over to clear the table.

Makoto shouldered her backpack and smiled at Haru. “Thanks for the meal,” she said with a slight bow. “It was delicious as always.”

Haru swallowed. “Will you be coming back?”

Makoto looked thoughtful for a moment. “Probably. But I am actually going to be heading out of town for a couple weeks.”

“Oh? What for?”

“Following this court case my older sister is working on,” she replied simply. “It’s not huge or anything but I’m interested in it.”

“I know we just met, but would it be possible…”

Makoto cocked her head to the side and seemed confused.

“I was just hoping to get your contact information. I’d be interested to learn about what your sister is working on.”

“Sure. Do you have a pen?”

Haru nodded and handed her the pen from her apron. Haru watched Makoto uncap the pen with her teeth and take Haru's free hand gently. Makoto scribbled her contact information in perfectly neat writing on the back of Haru’s hand. Haru was more focused on Makoto’s face as she focused on writing down all the information. She looked very cute with the pen cap hanging out of the corner of her mouth and her eyes laser focused. Makoto recapped the pen and handed it back.

“Are you a law student or something?” Makoto asked. “Not to be rude. A lot of people who are interested in my sister are law students.”

“Ah. Something like that,” Haru said sheepishly.

“Alright. Well, send me a message whenever you get a chance, Okumura-san. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Makoto left the coffee shop with a goodbye tossed over her shoulder. 

Ren burst out laughing as soon as the bell stopped tinkling. “Don’t have a crush my ass!” he exclaimed. “Haru, if you don’t have a crush then Ryuji and I aren’t even dating.”

Haru sat down in the booth overdramatically. “Ren, how could you do this to me?”

“I’m gonna blame Ann honestly. Her and Shiho are just too cute to not want a relationship like that.”

 

Haru laid in bed that night after work. All she could picture in her mind was Makoto writing down her contact information. Haru had already transferred all of the information into her phone but had also tried her best to not wash off the actual message. Of course, through the day it had faded and was already barely legible. She wished that pen lasted a little bit longer.

Haru sighed and pulled a pillow over her face. Ren was right. He was always right about matters of the heart it seemed. She hated that he was right. Maybe he would be able to tell her what to do now. She pulled her phone off of her nightstand and sent him a message.

Haru to Ren

> **Haru:** Hey Ren...  
>  **Ren:** Have you messaged her yet?  
>  **Haru:** No.  
>  **Ren:** Why not?  
>  **Haru:** … I’m scared.  
>  **Ren:** You miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t take.  
>  **Haru:** I know but there is quite a bit that could go wrong here. I don’t know if she even is interested in girls. This requires a bit more finesse than cheesy box quotes.  
>  **Ren:** True. But message her anyway.  
>  **Haru:** Fine.

Haru to Makoto Niijima

> **Haru:** Hello, Niijima-san. This is Haru Okumura. Just thought I’d send you a message so you have my contact information.

Makoto responded immediately.

> **Makoto:** Hello! No need for honorifics. You can just call me Makoto if you’d like. Can I call you Haru?  
>  **Haru:** Oh… um yeah! That’s fine.  
>  **Makoto:** Haru it is then. How was the rest of your evening?  
>  **Haru:** About as slow as usual. Although three of our friends showed up near the end to hang out after close and that was fun.  
>  **Makoto:** Three friends? That’s quite the crowd.  
>  **Haru:** Not really. I’d say that’s rather small.  
>  **Makoto:** Sorry, I was just joking. I don’t have a lot of friends.  
>  **Haru:** Why not?  
>  **Makoto:** I don't really know.  
>  **Haru:**  I guess I will just have to be your friend then.  
>  **Makoto:** I would like that. We could hang out sometime.  
>  **Haru:** Hang out?  
>  **Makoto:** Yeah that’s something that friends do right?  
>  **Haru:** I suppose. What would you like to do?  
>  **Makoto:** I was thinking about going to book town tomorrow. I need to pick up some weird things for my sister and then maybe treat myself.  
>  **Haru:** When are you going?  
>  **Makoto:** I was thinking around noon. I can be a little bit flexible if you have a tight schedule though.  
>  **Haru:** No. Noon would work.  
>  **Makoto:** Then I will see you tomorrow.  
>  **Haru:** Yes you will.

Haru screenshotted the entire conversation and sent it to Ren. Her heart was pounding and her hands were sweaty. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Makoto had actually agreed to hang out with her tomorrow. She was giddy.

Haru to Ren

> **Ren:** She has got you capital f Fucked Up.  
>  **Haru:** I know.  
>  **Ren:** I hope you two have a good time though.  
>  **Haru:** Yeah me too. What should I wear?  
>  **Ren:** You and I both know that is an Ann Takamaki question that I cannot give you an answer to. I know I dress casually well but I can't pick your outfit.  
>  **Haru:** I know but Ann’s going to make it a bigger deal than it is.  
>  **Ren:** Truly. But she’ll make sure you look nice. Just let her do her thing, Cinderella.  
>  **Haru:** FINE.

Haru to Ann

> **Haru:** Hey, Ann. I’m going out with a girl tomorrow around noon and was wondering if you could help me get ready.  
>  **Ann:** A girl? You are going out with a girl? A girl? You? And a girl? Going out?  
>  **Haru:** A girl yes. That has no confirmed sexuality. It’s as friends. We are just going out to book town.  
>  **Ann:** Hmm. You like her?  
>  **Haru:** Maybe a little. I don’t exactly know all of my feelings yet.  
>  **Ann:** I’ll be over at 10.  
>  **Haru:** Thank you.

Haru to Ren

> **Ren:** Ann just texted me and Shiho saying you’re going out on a date with a girl lmao  
>  **Haru:** It’s not a date!  
>  **Haru:** That girl is going to be the death of me.  
>  **Ren:** She’s not the only girl who will be the death of you ;)

Haru to Ann

> **Haru:** It’s Not A Date!  
>  **Ann:** (・ωｰ)～☆

Haru to Ren

> **Haru:** Add me to the chat.

Haru to Ren, Ann, Shiho

> **Haru:** IT’S NOT A DATE!!  
>  **Shiho:** Well that’s lame.  
>  **Ann:** If she ends up liking girls, it’s a date right?  
>  **Haru:** We’re just going to book town! Book Town!  
>  **Ren:** Haven’t you heard? Book town is the sexiest place in Tokyo. Best place to bring your new lover.  
>  **Haru:** It Is Not.  
>  **Ren:** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) But all those. Books. You know what books is one letter away from.  
>  **Shiho:** lmao  
>  **Ann:** Ren Stop Lmao  
>  **Ren:** I was thinking boots guys. BOOTS.  
>  **Ann:** ʕ◉ᴥ◉ʔ  
>  **Haru:** Guys… Seriously.  
>  **Shiho:** Seriously Haru I think you’re going to be fine. And if she doesn’t like girls we can laugh about this later.  
>  **Haru:** But it’s not a date.  
>  **Ann:** We know. We’re just messing around. Trying to put you at easea little you know.  
>  **Ren:** Yeah. Trust us. We know how nerve-wracking it can get.  
>  **Shiho:** ^^^^  
>  **Haru:** …Continue making jokes then… It was making me laugh a little…  
>  **Ann:** Ren was definitely not talking about boots.  
>  **Shiho:** Definitely not.  
>  **Ren:** BOOTS. I SWEAR.  
>  **Ren:** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
>  **Ann:** REN.  
>  **Ann:** adjsafk;jdf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so makoto is more friendly in this fanfic. there's a couple of reasons for why she's so bright. 1 of them is because she deserves to be happy. others will be revealed at a later date.  
> i will say that in this fic makoto has to work very hard for all of her good grades. she was student council president at her high school but not without working herself to death to get there.  
> but more of this will be explained later.


	2. A Book Date That Isn't Really A Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a little bit of time to write up!  
> i hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> i actually think this will update every two weeks at the most. just because i don't have tons of time to be writing. but ill do my best to get at least that much out!

Haru had barely slept, her body wracked with nerves about the day to come. She honestly couldn’t tell if she had slept at all. She’d been stuck in a state of half sleep all night, tossing and turning as her head churned through all the possibilities of the day. There were so many things that could go wrong. There were too many things that could go right. What if Makoto ended up liking her? What was she even supposed to do with that information? Her heart was already beginning to beat faster at the thought.

Ann arrived promptly at ten a.m. She entered Haru's room after two short knocks and found the other girl still bundled up under several blankets. “Haru?” Ann called. She jumped onto the bed and dug up the other girl. When she looked Haru over she frowned. “Did you even sleep last night?”

Haru shook her head slightly. Her head felt foggy from the lack of sleep. She was definitely going to need a pick me up for the day. “Not a lot. I’m… really nervous about this.”

Ann smiled gently and cupped Haru’s face in her hands. “It’s not a date, Haru-chan. There’s absolutely nothing to be nervous about, okay?” She bopped Haru on the nose with her finger.

Haru nodded as much as she could with Ann holding her. Ann was right. It wasn’t a date. But it sure as hell made Haru nervous like it was one. She’d never been this nervous to go out with a boy, whether it was a date or not. She guessed that she was just really wanted Makoto to like her. Normally she didn’t care if the boys ended up liking her at the end; but, she really wanted to impress Makoto. Also, this was the first time she'd ever been out with a girl that made her feel this way.

“Alright then! Let’s get to work!” Ann said with so much enthusiasm that Haru could only smile.

After a lot of gentle encouragement, Ann finally pulled Haru out of bed and took her to the walk-in closet. Haru sat down in one of the chairs in there as she watched Ann peruse her wardrobe. She leaned her head on her chin and her eyes started to fall closed.

Ann was being incredibly thorough. She would pick something off a shelf or hanger, look it over, make a noise, and then set it back. Haru wondered how long this was going to take. She had quite a lot of clothes and if Ann intended on going over everything they were going to be there awhile.

“I’m looking for something in pink,” Ann stated. Haru snapped to attention when she heard Ann's voice. “Pink is definitely a good look for you. I want something soft.”

Haru stiffly got up from the chair and showed Ann two pieces that seemed to fit the bill. One was a long-sleeved shirt in a soft shade of pink with a bow tied around the collar and over exaggerated cuffs. It wasn’t one of Haru’s favorites but she did like it. The other was a pink, plaid button-up. Haru couldn’t even remember where it came from or if she’d ever worn it.

“Ooo, a plaid button-up screams lesbian,” Ann commented. 

“I’m not a lesbian, Ann.”

“Fine, fine. It screams I’m a girl who is attracted to other girls.”

“Fair enough.”

Ann handed Haru the long sleeved shirt and watched her put it on. She turned Haru in a circle several times, a thoughtful look on her face. “I think I like this better though. It’s definitely more you. You don’t need to be screaming that you’re a girl who likes other girls. But pink is a good way to go.”

After another hour, Haru was finally dressed and ready to go. Ann had stuck with the long-sleeved pink shirt and had accompanied it with a flowy, black skirt that reached just above Haru’s knees. She’d left Haru’s hair pretty much alone, besides giving it a quick brush through. Haru did opt to wear a black sun hat however since the day seemed to be shaping up to be very sunny. Ann also left Haru’s makeup simple and easy. This outfit was definitely not something would’ve picked for comfort, but she felt cute in it. And it didn’t outwardly scream that she was going on a date. Just that she had casually gotten ready to go out and wanted to look nice.

“You’re all set!” Ann told her. “You look great.”

“Thank you. It means a lot that you came over to help.”

“What are friends for?” Ann gave her a big hug and Haru returned it. “Just make sure you tell me all the juicy details!”

Haru chuckled. “Okay. Let’s get going.”

The two girls split at the train station. Ann headed back towards her house and Haru hopped on a train that would take her to book town. She opted to take the train instead of having a private driver take her. She felt less awkward, not that Makoto would see her arrive in a car. It was more of the principle of the thing.

**11:34**  
Haru to  Makoto

> **Haru:** Good morning, Makoto! How are you?  
>  **Makoto:** Good morning. I’m doing great. I just finished getting ready and I’ll be heading out soon. Did you already eat breakfast?  
>  **Haru:** I didn’t actually. I woke up a little late. Should we get something?  
>  **Makoto:** Of course.  
>  **Haru:** Let me know when you get in and where you are so we can meet up!  
>  **Makoto:** Will do.

Haru put her phone away. She balled her fists in her lap. She was still feeling incredibly nervous. Half of it was due to her _meeting_ up with Makoto and the other half was due to her meeting up with _Makoto_. She took a deep breath. She could do this. She'd taken the train before and it would be easy to get to book town. And it wasn't a date so hanging out with Makoto would be just like hanging out with Ann or Shiho. If she liked either of them. Which she didn't. It was going to be a long day.

Finally, her stop came up and she got off the train. She glanced around the station half expecting Makoto to already be there to greet her. She wasn’t of course. Haru let out a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding. 

She started up the stairs leading out of the station only to see Makoto heading down them. She was wearing a deep red blazer overtop a white shirt. Sleek, fitted black pants covered her legs. Her hair was both messy and put together; it had definitely been brushed but pieces still stuck out in all directions. Haru’s attention was drawn to the pastry that was hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she dug around for something in the bag that was slung over her shoulder.

“Makoto,” Haru called as she climbed the stairs towards the other girl.

Makoto’s head snapped up and she made eye contact. There was a brief flash of horror as she must’ve realized what she looked like with the pastry hanging out of her mouth and digging through her bag. Then her eyes brightened again and she closed the gap between them.

“Good morning,” Makoto greeted after removing the pastry. 

“I believe it’s afternoon now,” Haru corrected politely.

“That may be true, but my day has only just begun.” Makoto smiled brightly and then reached back into her bag. She pulled out a white paper bag and offered it to Haru. “I stopped at a bakery on the way over. I got too hungry to wait. Also, my sister texted me and gave me a laundry list of things to do. So I wanted to make sure we had time.”

Haru took the paper bag and looked at the contents. There were several different kinds of donuts and other delicious looking pastries. She felt her stomach gurgle and hoped it didn’t make an audible sound. She carefully plucked a donut from the bag and handed it back to Makoto.

“Alright,” Makoto said after stuffing the paper bag back into her bag. She started out of the station and down the street. Haru followed dutifully. “First we need to go pick up some really dense law books. Then we have to go to another store to pick up some new skirts and pants for her. And then we’re going to get some groceries. And then… ” Makoto put a finger to her lip. “Actual laundry. We have to pick up her dry cleaning.”

“You sister sure asks a lot of you,” Haru mused.

Makoto nodded. “She used to be a lot worse, trust me. But once I moved out and into college dorms, my life has become infinitely more independent. My sister only asks me to do all these chores when she’s working on a really high profile case and forgets to take care of herself.”

“And she’s your older sister?”

“Older half-sister,” Makoto corrected. “Dad’s first child from his previous marriage. She’s fourteen years older than me.”

“Fourteen?” Haru asked clearly caught off guard. “That’s quite a lot.”

“Yeah. She basically raised me, though.” Makoto shrugged. “She’s almost more like my mother than my older sister sometimes.”

“Were your parents not around a lot?”

Makoto hesitated a moment. “Um… yeah. It was something like that. Just me and my sister mostly.” She skipped ahead a step and gestured to a store that was filled to the brim with books both inside and outside. “And would you look at that! Here we are.”

Haru looked at the store. Her eyes widened as she took in all the books. She couldn’t even begin to know where they’d start looking for the books that Makoto needed.

Makoto reached into her bag and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. She undid it and skimmed the page. “Alright then. We need three books.”

“Three?” Haru asked her voice full of dismay. “I can’t even begin to imagine how we’ll find one.”

“Oh this store is a lot more organized than it appears, I assure you,” Makoto responded. “It’ll be maybe an hour tops to find all three. Maybe a little bit longer if we do some browsing ourselves.”

Makoto stepped backward through the threshold of the building and offered a hand to Haru. Haru took it gingerly and then was whisked away into what felt like a whole other dimension. The experience was almost magical.

The store was bigger on the inside than it had appeared on the outside. There were more books than Haru could comprehend. They filled tall shelves that went to the ceiling. There wasn’t a single shred of empty space, beside the aisles people needed to walk. If there was no need for people to be there, Haru assumed the aisles would’ve been filled in too. 

Makoto moved through the store with confidence. It was almost like she had a sixth sense designed only to navigate this specific store. She darted down an aisle, narrowly avoided colliding with a man carrying a large stack of books, and finally landed on a bookshelf that she started to peruse. 

Haru watched her carefully. She noted the way that Makoto’s eyes darted over the titles. The way her finger danced over the spines of the books stacked on the shelf. The way she was barely biting her bottom lip as she focused on the task ahead of her. Haru made herself drag her eyes away so it didn’t appear that she was staring. She could hear Ren teasing her in the back of her mind.

Makoto finally plucked a book off the shelf. “Aha! Here we are.”

Haru leaned over to see the book in question. It was easily over 1000 pages and had a title that comprised of about twenty words and a colon along the way. Makoto wasn’t joking about these books being dense.

The pair continued on their journey through the store. Haru followed Makoto like a lost puppy. It was slightly embarrassing to be following the other girl around, but Haru still felt incredibly euphoric about being around Makoto and asked along on this adventure. There was just something in the air of the bookstore that made everything feel like a dream. And maybe some of that was due to the fact that Haru felt she’d never get to feel this happy spending time with anyone. It was almost like when she’d first started working at the coffee shop and every moment that she was happy working there felt incredible. Her own little piece of heaven.

A light hand touched her shoulder. Haru glanced over to see Makoto holding three books now.

“We got them all,” Haru said nearly gasping. She barely noticed since she was caught up in all her own thoughts.

“Let’s check out,” Makoto said with a smile.

They went to the front counter and Makoto paid. She turned back to Haru and smiled. “Task one complete. Time for task two.”

Task two involved the two hopping on a train and taking it towards Shibuya. They ended up in a clothing store where Makoto picked up an order that he sister had placed prior. Inside the store, Makoto pointed out a few things that she liked but knew she didn't have the money for. Haru made a mental note of them. Perhaps if this friendship—or relationship—continued she could buy Makoto a gift. And with that task two was completed.

Task three lead them back closer to where Makoto’s sister lived. There was a dry cleaner just down the street from the apartment. They picked up the clothes left there and headed back to the apartment. That completed task three.

Inside her sister’s apartment, Makoto set all the things down on a black sofa in the living room. She turned to Haru. “I’m going to use the bathroom really quick and then we’ll head to the grocery store.”

Haru nodded and watched her disappear down the hall. She took the opportunity to have a look around. The apartment was pretty barren. It had all the standard furniture one would see in most homes. Things like a couch, a television, a coffee table, and a chair were all in the living room. None of it looked particularly lived in but it was all there. She wondered if Makoto’s sister actually lived here or if it was just a living space. Perhaps she was out at work too much to actually make use of it.

Makoto returned and went into the kitchen to check the contents of the fridge and cabinets. She made a face.

“No good?” Haru asked.

“She’s got next to nothing. But also it’s hard to shop for her because I never know when she’s going to be home.”

“I guess we’ll just have to buy lots of nonperishables,” Haru suggested. 

“Yeah. And frozen stuff. God, sis’s diet is frozen food and take out most of the time. Not that I’m much better.”

“We could… make dinner?” Haru offered. She was somewhat of a talented chef and if it made Makoto happy she was more than happy to offer her cooking skills.

“I mean, yeah we could. But that would require having a place to make dinner. My dorms aren’t exactly the best for making a whole meal. It's why I don't really cook at home.”

“Well, we could do it in the coffee shop tonight. I’m sure Ren wouldn’t mind. And we could have a nice meal there.”

“Really?” Makoto sounded unsure.

“Yeah! I’ll text Ren and let him know. And we can pick up stuff to make a meal while we grocery shop for your sister.”

“I guess that could work…”

“I promise it’ll be fun.

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck and Haru's heart fluttered. Apparently, that gesture from Makoto was her weak spot. "As long as you promise it'll be fun," Makoto conceded. "If it's not fun, then I'll be very disappointed."

"I absolutely promise!"

**16:05**  
Haru to  Ren

> **Haru:** Makoto will be coming over to Leblanc for dinner tonight. We’re preparing something special.  
>  **Ren:** And you want me to close up shop or what? Boss’ll kill us.  
>  **Haru:** You know he won’t. And it’ll be a late dinner, okay? Please. This is very important to me.  
>  **Ren:** Something tells me you really like this Makoto Niijima girl. If you’re already cooking her dinner.  
>  **Haru:** Ann, Shiho, Ryuji, and everyone else can come.  
>  **Ren:** You want the entirety of the group in a room with your date?  
>  **Haru:**  First of all, it's still not a date. Second of all, you guys wouldn’t ruin this for me, would you?  
>  **Ren:** I guess nothing better to set a gay mood than an entire room filled with gay people. So we might help.  
>  **Haru:**  I'll ignore that. Thank you! We’ll be over in a little bit. We just have to finish up our errands. Thank you so, so much! And if you could let everybody else know.  
>  **Ren:** No problem, Haru. See you soon.


	3. Phantom Drunkery

It didn’t take long for Haru and Makoto to finish up their shopping for Makoto’s sister. Makoto had picked out plenty of things for her sister to eat. It was mostly frozen and prepackaged goods, but it was the best they could come up with for someone who was never home. Haru was fairly satisfied with their haul. As for their own meal, Haru was having a bit more trouble picking out something to eat.

Makoto had claimed that she wasn’t a picky eater but somehow found a reason to say no to whatever Haru suggested. It was just one excuse after another as to why she couldn’t have it. Things like, “Oh, well, I just had that last night,” or, “Well, that’s not something I’m particularly in the mood for.” She wasn’t sure if Makoto really didn’t want to eat any of this or if she was being moody because she didn’t want to have dinner with Haru and her friends. Haru felt like a worn out mother. She was just hoping that she could find something that Makoto would eat with her.

“What about katsudon?” Haru asked. She’d already been through about ten meals she knew she could make off the top of her head and was running out of options.

Makoto paused making Haru brace herself for what was coming. “I don’t really want that,” Makoto said and Haru felt like another arrow was shot into her back.

“Is there something you do want?” Haru asked finally. She tried her best to hide how exasperated she felt. “Since you don’t seem to be wanting any of my suggestions.”

Makoto looked thoughtful for a moment. “Honestly, curry.”

Haru stopped dead in the middle of the aisle they were in. Makoto bumped into her then fell back a few steps. Haru turned abruptly, one hand on her hip and the other pointed accusatorily at Makoto. “You mean to tell me you’ve wanted curry this whole time?”

Makoto looked sheepish and her eyes rested anywhere but on Haru. “Yeah, kind of.”

“Oh my goodness! I wish I would’ve asked sooner. We already have ingredients to make curry at the coffee shop since that’s mostly what they sell. We’ve been wandering around for nothing.” Haru resisted the urge to slap a hand to her face. “Now that that’s settled. Let’s go.” She turned on her heel and started towards the checkout.

Makoto followed after her after getting over the shock of what had just happened. She had really not expected to get scolded in such a pleasant manner. She smiled softly to herself.

The two girls checked out and left the store. After dropping groceries off at Sae’s, they were finally making their way back to Leblanc. It was a little later than Haru would’ve liked, but it was fine. They’d still make okay time getting back. Just to make sure, she sent a text to Ren saying that they would be a little later than she had originally thought. They had gotten caught up at the grocery store and would be at Leblanc soon.

The two girls were quiet most of the train ride there which Haru was okay with. The day had worn her out more than she had expected it to. Of course, she’d gotten no sleep the night before and that probably had something to do with it. She leaned her head back against the seat and tried with little success to keep her eyes from falling closed.

“Tired?” Makoto asked. They were the only ones on this side of the train and the sudden voice startled Haru a bit.

Haru nodded slightly. “I don’t usually feel so tired I could fall asleep on a train,” she mumbled. “Long day, I guess.”

Makoto looped her arm through Haru’s. “Sorry for wearing you out,” she said with a chuckle.

Haru giggled in return. “No, it’s not a problem. I’m fine really. Just a little tired.”

“Well, if you want to rest your eyes for a moment, I’ll keep an eye on you,” Makoto offered. “And I’ll make sure to wake you when we get to where we’re supposed to be going.”

Haru scooted closer to Makoto a bit deciding to take her up on that offer. She rested her head on Makoto’s shoulder. It was surprisingly comforting. Makoto was soft and warm. She also smelled very nice. Haru guessed it was something with vanilla in it. She wouldn’t have pegged Makoto for someone who would go the extra mile to smell like vanilla. But perhaps there was still a lot she needed to learn about Makoto.

Makoto sat as still as possible and played on her phone while Haru dozed off. Haru could just feel the slight twitches of Makoto as she swiped on her phone. Everything was quiet around them. Haru let herself fall slightly deeper into sleep.

“Haru, we’re here,” Makoto said gently in Haru’s ear.

Haru startled a little, not prepared to have a hand touching her thigh or being whispered to. She looked around with sleepy eyes and remembered where she was. “Ah, okay.” She stretched as far as she could and then stood up.

The girls got off the train and Haru led the way back to Leblanc. The store was already closed, but the lights inside were still on and flooded into the dark alleyway. As she approached the door she could already see the others milling about in the shop. Haru brought Makoto up beside her. “Everybody’s already here,” she said quietly.

Makoto peered in. Haru noticed the slight look of discomfort and Makoto’s shoulders tense. She realized that she hadn’t said how many people would be over. Perhaps six was a lot for a first gathering.

“I’m sorry. I never said how many people would be here,” Haru said.

Makoto nodded slightly and took a step away from the door. “Yeah... I didn’t realize you had so many friends who would hang out with you at a moment’s notice.”

Haru chuckled and shook her head. “I wouldn’t say that’s a good thing. They just generally don’t have lives outside of each other. We’re almost always together. Which I believe is both a good and bad.”

Another small nod from Makoto. She was holding her hands in front of her now, her grip tight. Haru wondered if she was going to be okay with all of this, but decided she’d give Makoto the out if she needed it later.

“Are you ready to go in?” Haru asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Makoto responded. 

Haru heard her take a deep breath as she took her hand and they entered the cafe. 

The bell chimed and all of the people inside looked to see. Makoto’s steps faltered as the two of them entered. All eyes were on them. There was a small beat of silence and Haru called gently, “Hello, everyone. We made it.”

The first to jump up was Ann. She made her way to Haru’s side in only a few long strides and she threw her arms around Haru, embracing her tightly. From Makoto’s perspective, she could only see an endless sea of blonde hair attached to a skinny girl that she was pretty sure she’d seen before but couldn’t place. She tilted her head slightly as she watched the pair hug.

“Hi, Haru!” Ann said happily. “Wonderful to see you. You look great.”

“Hi, Ann-chan,” Haru responded through a mouthful of bouncy, blonde hair. She figured Ann’s second response was to make it seem like she hadn’t picked Haru’s outfit out that morning. Although, drawing attention to it made it weirder. “Thank you.”

Ann turned to Makoto and smiled brightly. Makoto returned it with a somewhat awkward smile of her own. Makoto took the moment to take Ann in again. Her outfit was casual with just a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. Ann’s icy blue eyes practically had stars in them with how happy she seemed. Makoto was trying not to make a face as she wondered where she’d seen this girl before.

“Hello,” Ann said. “I’m Ann Takamaki.”

“Makoto Niijima. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Makoto said with a slight bow. She racked her brain searching for the name. It also was incredibly familiar.

“Oh no need to be so formal,” Ann said quickly. “We’re all friends here. You can call me Ann.”

Ren came over with a cool smile and distracted the conversation. “Hello again, Niijima. Would you like coffee?” His tone was casual as was his posture. When he wasn’t working, he was much more relaxed.

Makoto nodded. “That would actually be lovely.”

Haru led Makoto to the booth where everybody else was already gathered. She slid in on the side opposite a dark-haired girl wearing a letterman jacket. Her head was resting on her hand as she casually watched Ann across the cafe. She only barely glanced at them and gave them a small smile.

“Hi,” she said. Her eyes tracked Ann as she went to the counter to ask Ren for something. “I’m Shiho Suzui. I’m Ann’s girlfriend. A pleasure to meet you.”

Makoto nodded slowly, taking in the new information. “I’m Makoto Niijima. I’m sure you’ve heard.”

Shiho’s smile widened. “I definitely have.”

Ann slid into the booth and passed a cup of coffee to Makoto. Makoto took it gratefully, wrapping her fingers tightly around the cup. She looked over Ann once again.

“I’m sorry if this is a weird question,” Makoto said, “but do I know you from somewhere? You look so familiar and your name also seems like one I’ve heard before. But I can’t remember where I’ve seen you from.”

“Do you read Vague?” Ann asked curiously.

“Not often, but I’ve flipped through it a few times,” Makoto responded.

“I model for them.” Ann smiled brightly. “I’m surprised you recognized me, though. I don’t usually get that.”

Makoto nodded slightly, suddenly feeling very awkward. The only reason she had looked at her so hard was that she thought Ann was very pretty. “Oh... Yeah. Now that you mention it that does seem right. Okay.”

Haru grabbed Makoto’s attention by gently tapping her on the arm. “I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation but I just wanted to tell you who is who before we get any deeper into this. The blond boy in the chair by the counter is Ryuji Sakamoto. He’s Ren’s boyfriend. The orange haired girl in the booth on the other side is Futaba Sakura. She’s our boss’s daughter. And the guy across from her is Yusuke Kitagawa. He’s a friend of Ren’s. Well, he’s a friend of all of us, but he was originally Ren’s friend first.”

Makoto nodded again. She leaned closer to Haru and whispered, “So... I don’t know if this is rude to ask but are all your friends gay?”

Shiho and Ann perked up a bit, having heard the comment.

“Um... Yes, actually,” Haru responded. “Is that a problem?”

Makoto shook her head quickly. “No, absolutely not a problem. I’m actually... gay myself. I just don’t have that many gay friends.” She fidgeted with her coffee cup, running her fingers over the handle. “I didn’t even realize Ren was.”

“Oh?” Haru said, her interest peeking. This was a very interesting development for her indeed. It was also just the information she wanted to gather. Ren had been right when he said having a bunch of gays around would create a gay mood.

“Yeah... Aha...” Makoto rubbed the back of her neck. 

“Well, birds of a feather flock together,” Haru said with a smile.

“You too?” Makoto asked. Her shoulders dropped into a more relaxed posture and she leaned towards Haru a bit.

“Well, I’m bi,” Haru said. “But that’s mostly details.”

“Ah... I’m a lesbian...”

Shiho smiled from across the table. “You and me both. Ann’s bi too.” She jerked a thumb at Ann. “A real bicon this one. God, I love that girl.”

Ann chuckled and threw her arm around Shiho’s shoulders. “Thank you, honey.” She pecked Shiho on the cheek.

“She is very pretty,” Makoto agreed. “You’re very lucky.”

“I mean she is a model,” Shiho said, nearly sighing.

“Enough about Ann,” Ren said coming up to the end of the table. He planted his hands down and leaned forward to be closer to the girls. “We get it. She’s a crazy-sexy blondie and she’s not dumb. More important matters are at hand.” He gently slammed his fist on the table, only slightly rattling the salt and pepper shakers.

“And what could possibly be more important than talking about Ann?” Shiho asked, raising her eyebrow.

“What we are having for dinner,” Ren said. He paused for a moment and held up a finger in Shiho’s direction. “And if you even think about saying Ann, you’re banned.”

Ann burst out laughing and Shiho questioned, “Banned from what?”

“Leblanc,” Ren said tersely. “Forever. I don’t want you here anymore if you’re going to bring your filthy mouth.”

Shiho stood up as much as she could in the booth and leaned closer to Ren. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. You know my mouth has never been clean. And like as if you’d ban me. I’m your only friend.”

Ren made a fake disgusted face. “Shiho, I don’t know how to break this to you but I don’t want to know what you and Ann—”

“AHEM,” Ann cut in loudly. “Ren, if you finish that sentence, I will kill you and feed you to your cat.”

Ren looked at Ann now. It was a bit difficult with Shiho still tightly gripping his shirt. “That’s really fucked up.”

“Guys,” Haru butt in. She was seconds away from rubbing her temples in annoyance. Makoto was probably already halfway out the door at this rate. Why couldn’t they behave for one evening? “Curry. We’re having curry for dinner.”

“CURRY?!” Ren and Shiho said in unison. Shiho dropped Ren’s collar and both of them leaned in closer to Haru. “We eat curry all the damn time!”

“We’re having curry?” Ann asked with an eyebrow raised. She sat back in the seat.

“I was hoping for something with pork in it,” said Ryuji from the counter. He sipped his soda with a dejected look on his face.

“I’m okay with curry,” Futaba piped up. She had barely looked up from her computer this entire time. “As long as it’s warm and has calories I’m not that picky.”

“I have to agree with Futaba,” Yusuke said. “Whatever meal you are willing to serve me, I will gladly eat.”

“Yes we are having curry,” Haru spoke up. Her tone was much harder and no nonsense now. “It’s what Makoto wanted and it’s what we’re having.” She gave a look to everybody in the room.

Ren leaned back off the table and crossed his arms. He made a tsk-tsk noise. “I just cleaned the curry pot and you’re gonna make me get it dirty again.”

“I’ll even wash the curry pot for you,” Haru said in her most pleasant voice. “Please.”

“Anything for you,” he said with a smile. “And I will not forget your offer to clean the curry pot later.” He winked at her before he went back behind the counter and into the kitchen.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Makoto said suddenly. Haru moved out of the way and watched her enter the bathroom.

Shiho gave Haru a look. “Perhaps you’ve overwhelmed her.”

Haru looked at the bathroom door and then at Shiho. She frowned. “I overwhelmed her? Would it kill you guys to not start a bar fight in front of my guest? Just for one night.”

Shiho’s face grew red. “Oh... I’m sorry, Haru.”

Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Makoto was gripping the sink. She stared herself down in the mirror for a moment before turning on the sink and splashing water onto her face. “Pull it together, Niijima,” she mumbled. “They’re just people. It’s okay. And you like Haru. The fact that you just came out to a room full of people is okay. The fact that they’re a little over the top is also okay. They’re just like you… You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

There was a soft knock on the door. Makoto jumped slightly. Then she remembered she was in a public cafe with other people in it. “Makoto, are you alright?” It was Haru. Of course Haru would come and check on her. It’d already been about five minutes since she’d entered. Haru was just so nice and pleasant. 

“I’m okay,” Makoto called back. She opened up the door and gave Haru her best fake smile.

“I’m really sorry if I overwhelmed you,” Haru apologized quickly. “I guess I didn’t realize that meeting six new people would be a lot. Especially when it’s these guys. They can be a handful and they’re a bit rowdy. But I promise they’re all good people. I’m more than willing to take you home if you’re not feeling well. They’ll understand and I don’t want to pressure you into staying.”

“No, no. It’s fine,” Makoto assured her. “I am a little overwhelmed but I think I can handle it. I just needed to clear my head a little bit. Thank you, though. It means a lot.”

Haru smiled. “Alright. But if you want to leave then just say the word and we’ll be off.”

Haru guided Makoto back to the booth. Makoto took the inside seat pressed against the wall and Haru squeezed in next to her. Futaba perched herself on the very end. The seats weren’t really big enough for three but she was very determined to sit with them. She set her laptop down on the table and started to type away. Makoto glanced over but didn’t say anything.

Ren came out carrying four plates of curry. “Futaba, laptop off the table while I’m serving dinner. If curry gets on it, I’m not responsible.”

Futaba begrudgingly removed her laptop. She leaned over the back of the seat and set it on the table behind them.

On the other side of the table, Shiho, Ann, and Yusuke had squeezed themselves in. Shiho was stuck against the wall but didn’t seem to mind practically having Ann in her lap. Yusuke was much bigger than Futaba so the fit was even tighter. They all appeared to be enjoying themselves though.

Ren set down curry in front of Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Shiho. “Enjoy,” he said, mostly to Makoto, before going back to retrieve more curry.

Ryuji pulled up a chair to the edge of the table and sat down next to Futaba. Ren stopped by and set down curry for Ann, Yusuke, Ryuji, and himself. He went back behind the counter and brought out glasses for everyone, setting them at each place setting. Then he went back into the kitchen for a final time only to return a moment later with a large bottle of wine and a carton of six beer bottles. He set them down on the table and pulled up his own chair.

Haru felt Makoto shift awkwardly beside her. Haru thought it was because of the tight fit of the seats but Makoto asked, “Um… Are any of you old enough to drink?”

Haru looked around the table. “Well… I am,” Haru said, raising her hand a little.

“And they’re not?” Makoto continued. She gestured to the rest of the group.

“Not… legally…”

Makoto shifted again, but there wasn’t much place for her to go. Haru tried her best to not fall into Makoto’s lap.

“I’m sorry, is it a problem?” Ren asked now. He was still sitting casually in his chair as if this hadn’t bothered him at all. “I mean, I wouldn’t say this is normal for us. Just for the special occasion.”

“Special occasion?” Makoto asked with a frown.

“Yeah. Making a new friend means a lot to us. We take friendship very seriously.” He smiled and opened up a beer. The cap fell on the table with a loud cling, cutting the tension.

The rest of the gang took that as a sign to start eating. Ren poured himself and Ryuji a glass from the bottle he opened. Ann and Shiho dipped into the wine with Yusuke. Futaba seemed content with her curry and didn’t partake in any of the drinking. Haru got herself a glass of wine as well.

“Would you like any?” Haru asked a grumpily silent Makoto. “Or… I’m sorry. Are you against drinking?”

“Not particularly but where did you get it?”

“Our boss lets us have some from time to time. Like Ren said this isn’t a usual thing for us. I mean, I can legally drink. But they know they can’t. And we’re generally safe about it.” She smiled. 

“Yeah… I’ll have a little,” Makoto conceded. “But maybe let’s not next time, okay? I am training to be a cop after all.”

Haru nodded slowly as she poured her a drink. “You are?”

“Did I not mention that?” Makoto asked somewhat awkwardly. “Sorry about that. I thought I had. That’s why I’m a little against... things like this.”

“I’m sorry,” Haru said. “I’ll make sure to inform Ren about it for next time.”

The conversation around the table focused mainly on whether or not Ren would win in a fight against Shiho. Most votes were with Shiho saying that she was faster and smaller. She could definitely give Ren a run for his money. Then it shifted slightly to whether Ryuji or Shiho was the better lover. Ann had an almost essay length speech prepared on why she thought that Shiho was better. Ren conceded at some point and Ryuji dejectedly shouted, “Hey!” The conversation shifted again. This time they were discussing the coffee shop and how exactly it stayed afloat. Futaba butt in with hard facts and figures. Ren said that it didn’t matter much whether or not the coffee shop did well as long as they had each other.

By the time the night ended, all the bottles were empty. Ann and Shiho were good enough to go home. Shiho a little soberer than Ann. The two girls left with happy goodbyes thrown over their shoulders. Ann was already planting large kisses on Shiho’s cheek before they were even out of the shop.

Yusuke and Futaba also left, both of them having consumed next to no alcohol. Futaba said she’d see Ren tomorrow and Yusuke affirmed that he’d be back sometime soon if he wasn’t called sooner.

Ryuji was drunk and had passed out in one of the booths. Ren was happily buzzed. Haru was also well past drunk and could barely hold herself up. She hadn’t meant to get herself this drunk but the wine was very good. It also hadn’t hit her until after it was too late.

“You have to take her home for me,” Ren said to Makoto. He was leaned against the counter nursing a cup of coffee. He glanced past her as Haru laid her head down on the table. “Please.”

Makoto looked visibly uncomfortable. She had to try and think of a way to get out of taking Haru home. At the same time, she didn’t want to just abandon Haru after the day they’d just spent together. “But, wait… I… I don’t know where she lives.”

“Not a problem. I’ll get you the address,” Ren said. “Pretty please.”

“Are you sure she can’t stay here?”

“I’m a little drunk myself. There’s no way I’ll be able to take care of both of them tonight. Please, Makoto. It would mean the world to me.”

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck. “Fine.” She handed her phone off to Ren and he typed in the address for Haru’s place. Makoto checked the address. At least it was somewhat close to where they were.

“Thank you so much. I’ll treat you next time you come in. Don’t let me forget I owe you big time.”

Makoto sighed and pulled Haru up from the table. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Haru giggled quietly and hung on Makoto like a lifeline. She called a slurred goodbye to Ren as the two of them exited the cafe.

Makoto had elected to take a cab instead of the train. It was going to be faster and a little bit safer for the two of them. In the back of the cab, Haru sat close to Makoto her head rested on her shoulder. Haru couldn’t really feel much, but Makoto was warm beside her. The scent of vanilla hit her again.

“I love you,” Haru mumbled. “Please don’t leave me.”

Makoto held Haru’s hand making Haru smile. “Okay.”

 

Haru woke up with a terrible headache and her mouth was dry. She was back in her bed, bundled up in cozy blankets. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d allowed herself to get that drunk. It had sure been a while. Her friends always did seem to bring out the worst in her with these things. She rolled to the edge of the bed. As she went to stand, her feet landed on something warm and squishy. She let out a short shriek.

The shape on the floor sat up. Makoto ran a hand through her hair and looked at Haru with sleepy eyes. “Good morning,” she mumbled. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She seemed much calmer than Haru was about the whole situation.

“M-Makoto, what are you doing here?!” Haru gasped.

“I took you home last night at the request of your friends,” Makoto responded. “I stayed the night because you were ungodly drunk and out of it. I didn’t want you to end up dead because I left you alone.”

Haru took in that information, her brain running a mile a minute. So Makoto took her home? Ren must’ve given her the address. She wondered why Ren didn’t just let Haru spend the night. Ren could’ve easily put her up for the night. Unless he was trying to do something sneaky. Haru went with that reasoning. He was never that honest. After a moment she responded, “You could’ve slept on the bed. You didn’t have to sleep on the floor.”

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck and smiled awkwardly. “I thought that would’ve been a little presumptuous of me. Also, you were really drunk. I can’t express in words how drunk you were. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea if you woke up before me. Which you just so happened to do.”

Haru blushed bright red. She fell backward into her bed and pulled the blankets up over herself. “Oh my gosh… I’m terribly sorry for all this. I don’t normally drink like that.”

Makoto chuckled and climbed into the bed with Haru. She dug her out from under the blankets. Haru’s heart nearly stopped when she saw Makoto’s bright smile. “I had fun last night at the very least,” Makoto said. “So you were right about that. I’m mostly glad you’re okay even if taking you home wasn’t really on my agenda last night.”

Haru sighed. “I just wanted to have a good evening with you and I ruined it…” She threw her arm over her face. “I’m sorry again.”

Makoto moved Haru’s arm off her face and looked her dead in the eyes. “Haru, it’s fine,” she said in a more serious tone. “I had a really good time.”

Haru vaguely wondered if she’d said something weird while she was drunk. Makoto hadn’t seemed to be enjoying the night that much. And to be honest, Haru felt like she’d inconvenienced Makoto a lot by having to be taken home drunk off her ass. God, if only she could remember next to anything from the night before.

“Let me treat you to breakfast then,” Haru said. “It’s the least I can do for making you take me home.

Makoto nodded. “I can’t argue with that. Also, if I could bother you for a shower, that would be wonderful. I do feel a little gross from sleeping on the floor and being out for most of the night.”

“Of course!” Haru responded quickly. “I could loan you a change of clothes if you’d like as well. I should have something that will fit you.”

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Makoto said putting up her hands. 

“No, please. It would be my pleasure. It’s absolutely no problem.” Haru bowed her head slightly.

“Okay...”

Haru took Makoto to the bathroom and got her set up to shower. After that, she went to the kitchen, made herself a cup of coffee and ate a small snack. She took something to help her headache a little bit. She was already starting to feel a little bit better. She went back to her room and picked out some clothes for Makoto to change into. She took them back to the bathroom and laid them down.

“Makoto,” she called to the other girl. “I laid out some clothes in here. Just meet me back in my bedroom once you’re finished.”

“Alright,” Makoto responded.

Haru left the bathroom and flopped back onto her bed. She picked up her phone and sent a text to Ren.

**12:37**  
Haru to Ren

> **Haru** : You made Makoto take me home last night. What was that about?  
>  **Ren** : If you weren’t so drunk, you would’ve seen how drunk Ryuji was. There’s no way I would’ve been able to keep up with you both considering I wasn’t sober either.  
>  **Haru** : And it had absolutely nothing to do with you wanting Makoto to take me home?  
>  **Ren** : Well I wouldn’t say nothing  
>  **Haru** : Ren.  
>  **Ren** : Haru?  
>  **Haru** : I’m so embarrassed. I’m hungover and I look like a mess. I woke up and she had spent the night and I stepped on her when I woke up because she was on the floor.  
>  **Ren** : Whoa. That escalated quickly.  
>  **Haru** : It wasn’t anything weird! I just. I am pretty sure I said something to her last night and I can’t remember what for the life of me.  
>  **Haru** : She seemed really happy this morning and was being really kind to me. She also seemed to be in a very good mood. I don’t know what happened last night, Ren.   
> **Ren** : Wait you guys didn’t...?  
>  **Haru** : She said no and I highly doubt she would lie about that. She doesn’t seem like the type of person.  
>  **Ren** : Okay good. I would’ve felt terrible if something happened.   
> **Haru** : Yeah I need to clear my head but she won’t be out of here for at least another hour or so.  
>  **Ren** : It’s okay, Haru. Just let things play out. You’ll do great.  
>  **Haru** : Thanks for that vote of confidence. Oh and just so you’re aware, you’re not off the hook for this by any means. I am fully ready to make your life absolutely miserable for doing this to me. +｡ﾟφ(ゝω・｀○)+｡ﾟ  
>  **Ren** : Well. Shit.  
>  **Ren** : I’m sorry Haru.  
>  **Haru** : You will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for taking the time to read my fic! i hope you enjoy.  
> as always the fic will update two weeks from now (:


	4. OH GOD! Not Community Chest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello all. i hope you enjoy this fluffy chapter.  
> so ive decided that this fanfic will be less plot-heavy and more just happy little snippets of their relationship progressing.  
> also as a side note, im pretty busy this month so ill try to keep to my update schedule but i may have to take a week or two off if i get swamped. 
> 
> thanks for reading!

After spending as much time as she possibly could with Makoto over the next few days, Haru didn’t see Makoto for two weeks. It was absolute agony. Makoto had left Tokyo on a trip with her sister to follow a case her sister was working on. The days seemed to drag on and on. Texting Makoto had been enough to hold Haru over up until day three. Then it just wasn’t cutting it anymore. Haru was trying to play it cool, but there wasn’t much to tide her over. She just wanted to spend time with Makoto again. Any time with her would’ve been enough. She was praying for anything.

She was sitting in Leblanc, her head rested on the counter and a cup of coffee pushed close to her by Ren. Ren was drying a dish behind the counter eyeing her with a look caught somewhere between wondering how she’d gotten so hung up on a girl in just a few days and being sympathetic to such a gay mood.

She sighed heavily. “Ren,” she groaned. “I’m so lonely.”

“Shut up,” he said rolling his eyes. “You’ve been hanging out with us almost every day since she left. And she’s supposed to be coming home today. Also, the two of you aren’t even officially dating so…”

“Yeah, but she said she wasn’t getting in until late tonight. And you don’t need to rub it in that I’m still single.”

“You’re absolutely hopeless.” He left the counter and went back into the kitchen nook. It wasn’t that he couldn’t stand Haru like this; she was just being exceptionally irritating today with Makoto back in her sights. She’d actually be pretty okay to be around since Makoto had left. Now that she was closer to being home, Haru was really being hit with the feelings of her being gone. He could at least understand it even if he was irritated by it.

The bell over the shop tinkled. Haru lifted her head to see who had just entered the shop. She wasn’t technically working that day; but if they needed her to, she would’ve jumped in to help. She mentally prepped herself to put on a happy face but she genuinely lit up when she realized who it was.

Makoto walked in, wiping her feet on the doormat as she did. She was dressed more warmly than the weather called for and was holding several bags. She smiled brightly when she saw Haru sitting at the counter. “Haru! I was hoping to catch you here. You didn’t answer my text.”

Haru jumped up off her seat and practically ran over to the other girl. She grabbed Makoto’s free hand in her own and held it close. “I was just missing you,” Haru said. “I didn’t even realize you texted me. I’m sorry about that. However, perhaps I was just mad since we just became friends and you left me for two weeks.”

Makoto laughed. “I’m very truly sorry. I did, however, bring gifts for you and Ren. I know that won’t make up for me being horrible and leaving you, but I hope it will ease the pain a little bit. Also if your friends could come on short notice, I’d love to eat dinner with them again.”

“We can’t take over the shop tonight,” Ren said as he approached the counter once again. He had a smile on his face as he watched the two girls together again. “It’ll have to be a secret party in my room. Boss’ll be okay coming to work tonight though so we can make it happen.”

“I’ll send out the invite,” Haru said, already putting together the text. “More importantly, you told me you wouldn’t be coming in until later tonight. How did you get here so early?”

“Magic,” Makoto said in a not too serious tone. She smiled to herself then corrected quickly, “Nah, I just left my sister a bit earlier than I said I would so I could come home. It’s that simple.”

Haru nodded. “I suppose that would make the most sense. So, what gift did you bring me?”

Makoto smiled. “Well, let’s go to the counter and see.”

Haru and Makoto made their way back to the counter. Ren had already fixed Makoto a cup of coffee and slid it up next to her as she took a seat. She smiled at him and gave him a slight nod of appreciation. He gave her a small smile back then leaned onto the counter as Makoto pulled out two packages. She gave the smaller one, wrapped tightly in blue paper, to Haru.

“Such fine wrapping,” Haru said turning the box over delicately. “I almost don’t want to ruin it.”

“I don’t care if you do,” Makoto said with a smile. 

Haru gently ripped the paper off of the box. She took the lid off and inside was a pair of ornate white opal earrings. They were beautiful. The pastel blue and pink specks swirled around the small stone. The earrings shimmered in the light and were gently held onto the post by four small silver prongs. Haru’s eyes widened as she examined them further. They must’ve been handcrafted judging by the cut of the stone.

“I love them,” she finally gasped out. “They’re stunning.”

“I’m glad you like them,” Makoto said. “I saw them and thought they seemed very… you.”

Makoto slid the other packaged over the counter to Ren. He ripped into the package without much hesitation and smiled when he examined the small brown bag that had been wrapped inside.

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “It’s just coffee beans but I felt like you’d enjoy them.”

“I do enjoy getting coffee beans,” he said with a bright smile. “Thank you so much.”

She smiled back, happy to have gotten him something that he seemed to like. Maybe she’d ask him to make her a cup of coffee using them the next time she came by.

Haru was flipping through her phone absently at the counter now. Everyone had pretty much responded to her text at this point. It never ceased to amaze her that none of them had lives outside of this friend group. “Everyone should be able to come over. What should we have for dinner?”

“Not curry,” Ren pleaded. “I have to put my foot down sometimes. If I have to look at any more curry today, I might puke.”

“Man, but I haven’t had your curry in two weeks,” Makoto teased. “And I’m really craving it.”

Ren folded his hands together in a begging gesture. If he could’ve gotten on his hands and knees, he would’ve just to prove his point. “No. Please. Anything but curry.”

“Let’s do take-out Chinese tonight,” Haru suggested before things escalated too quickly. “I’m in the mood.”

“Good for me,” Makoto said, backing off immediately.

“Okay then. I can do Chinese,” Ren agreed with a nod.

 

It wasn’t long until everyone in the friend group had arrived at the coffee shop. They all retreated upstairs to Ren’s room, which Makoto hadn’t realized was actually Ren’s room. It wasn’t much—it was just an attic afterall—but it was very homey. Ren seemed to have put a lot of time and effort into making sure that the space was his. There was plenty of gifts from friends lining his far shelf by his bed as well as a sofa and several chairs.

The boys pulled the table over to the couch and laid out all the food. It didn’t take long for everybody to be digging into the freshly delivered Chinese food. Makoto was happy to be eating with this group again. They all seemed up to their normal shenanigans. It was a lot to handle but at the same time, the liveliness of the group was a total 180 from the quiet reserved dinners she’d been having with her sister. It felt nice to be hanging out with kids her own age for once. It made her feel a part of something. 

Makoto was the first to finish her share of the meal, which wasn’t hard to do as the others were almost constantly talking or arguing about something. Currently, Shiho and Ren were in a contest for who could shove the most eggrolls in their mouth. It was pretty gross in Makoto’s humble opinion, but everyone else seemed very into it. Even Haru seemed to be enjoying the antics. 

Makoto had taken a step away to distance herself from the craziness just a smidge. She was perusing the shelf near the staircase. It had a ton of board games on it. The shelf was jam-packed with all sorts of games. Some of them Makoto had never even heard of. She was idly going through, just admiring the collection. 

“Do you want to play something?” Haru asked from across the room. She’d been keeping Makoto in the corner of her eye the entire time, just in case the other girl had gotten uncomfortable and wanted to leave.

“Oh, I was mostly just looking. Unless everybody else wants to play we don’t have to.” Makoto was already backing away from the shelf, feeling awkward now that attention had been drawn to her.

“We haven’t played anything in a while,” Shiho said. She must’ve swallowed whatever eggrolls had been in her mouth as she seemed fine now. “Let’s go for it.”

Makoto pulled a game out and showed it to the group. It was a game she’d played a few times with her sister and almost never ended well. Monopoly. All faces fell instantly as they looked at the game. All of them except for one. Haru.

“We could play this?” Makoto suggested with a smile. 

“Yes please!” Haru said clapping her hands. She seemed almost too happy for someone who had just been asked to play Monopoly with friends.

Everybody else shifted uncomfortably and Makoto started to wonder if she’d made a terrible choice. There was a good chance that Haru would take this game too seriously. As Makoto had found out, she was the heiress of a large business. Perhaps a game that involved something business related was just a little too serious for her.

Before she had time to take it back, Futaba spoke up from where she sat on the bed. “Yusuke and I get to be banker and auctioneer.” She didn’t look up from her computer as she spoke.

Ryuji cursed under his breath.

“Let’s play in teams,” Ren said. “I don’t want to be here for the next six hours. Ryuji and I. Ann and Shiho. Haru and Makoto.”

There was already tension in the air as Makoto opened up the box and started to lay out the pieces. It was almost like she was opening an ancient curse onto the group. She moved the take-out cartons to the side and laid the board out on the table. She set all the houses, cards, and properties off to the side. “What pieces do you guys want?” she asked.

“We’ll be the car,” Ryuji said snatching the piece and placing it on the start.

“Cat,” Shiho claimed. She grabbed her piece and placed it next to Ryuji’s.

“Let’s be the boat,” Haru said brightly. Makoto had no objections and gently set the piece with the others.

Makoto carried the money and properties over to Futaba and Futaba shook her head. “We don’t use the real money or properties, although I will hold on to them. That’s all such a hassle. I’ll keep track of everything from here.” She turned her computer around and showed a layout that already had start-up cash for each group. “And…” She went back to her backpack and pulled out a tablet. She laid it down on the table in the middle of the boar. After a few taps on the tablet and her computer, the tablet screen showed a tiny board map as well as each player’s money.

“Fancy,” Makoto said.

“I try to keep it streamlined here. Paper money is a thing of the past.” Futaba winked at her and made a finger gun gesture.

Makoto nodded once. At least she wasn’t the most awkward one of this group. She went back and sat beside Haru at the table. Yusuke had pulled up a chair to sit with them now as he was more or less Futaba’s eyes as she controlled things from afar.

“Alright players,” Futaba said. “Roll for initiative.” 

Ren rolled his eyes and chucked the dice on the board. It was a very ungraceful roll to set the tone of the game. “Seven.” He passed the dice to Shiho.

Shiho rolled the dice. “Nine.” She passed the dice to Makoto.

“Roll us something good,” Haru said quietly as Makoto shook the dice in her hands. The excited tone in her voice was almost unsettling. The dice hit the board with a clunk. “Four… Oh well.”

“Shiho and Ann, you’re first,” Futaba said. “Ren and Ryuji will be second. Makoto and Haru will roll last. You may begin.”

Shiho rolled the dice again. “Five.” She moved the piece, counting the spaces as she went along.

“Would you like to buy the railroad?” Futaba asked. 

“Yes please,” Ann spoke up.

“Reading Railroad is now in Cat’s possession,” Futaba said with an indifferent voice. She tapped a couple of keys and the tablet updated with the girls’ new money total as well as a pink marker on the railroad.

Ren picked up the dice and rolled. “Eleven.” He picked up his piece and clunked it along the board.

Futaba was peering over her computer at them. “Would you like to buy St. Charles Place?” she asked after a moment.

“Yes please,” Ren responded.

“St. Charles Place is now in Car’s possession.” Futaba clicked away on her keyboard again and the tablet updated.

Makoto tossed the dice, trying to be a little more enthusiastic than the rest of them. “Four…”

“Income Tax,” Futaba said. “But you did roll doubles. Pay two-hundred and roll again.”

Makoto sighed as she watched their money total drop. Things were not off to a good start for the two of them. She tossed the dice again. “Five.”

“Would you like to buy Connecticut Avenue?” Futaba asked.

“Yes please,” Haru butt in.

“Connecticut Avenue is now in Boat’s possession.” A few more taps from Futaba and the tablet updated.

The game carried on like this until they had all gone around the board several times. Almost all the property had been bought up. Makoto could sense the tensions already starting to run high. Haru especially seemed very on edge. It seemed pretty clear that Haru and Makoto were not exactly winning. Makoto’s rolls had been less than good each round. On top of that, they’d all have to start trading soon if they wanted to get monopolies. There was no way around it.

“Ren,” Haru said sweetly. “I’ll give you States Avenue for Vermont Avenue.”

Makoto looked at the board. That would give them a monopoly but Ann and Shiho had the other pink property so it wasn’t a one to one trade. Makoto and Haru also owned the electric company in the center of it as well. They could still roll through that gauntlet and make it out alive in theory.

“Fine,” Ren said with a sigh. Perhaps he was just humoring Haru at this point.

Futaba made a note and updated the board. “Alright. Anything else Haru?”

“I’d like to build houses,” Haru said.

“We’re boned,” Ryuji said quietly. 

Haru put houses on every property and ended the turn.

The game continued and around they went. Trades were made. Every player now had a monopoly somewhere on the board. Haru had built hotels on all three of the light blue squares she and Makoto owned. Even so, things weren’t turning in their favor. They were dead last. It seemed every turn the other teams would roll right past their properties. The two of them seemed to only be landing on everyone else’s properties. Haru was tense.

She rolled the dice and landed on Shiho and Ann’s railroad. “For goodness sake!” Haru shouted. “How is this even possible? I have how many properties along this strip and I land on the one goddamn railroad that you two own!”

Makoto looked at Haru in surprise. She’d never heard the other girl swear before. Even if the swears were mild, she’d never heard anything like it. This game really was a friendship destroyer. Perhaps this particular game was cursed for them. It sure did feel that way.

“We can stop playing any time,” Ren reminded. He and Ryuji were currently in first place somehow. He seemed to almost be taunting her with those words.

“No,” Haru said composing herself. The next words she spoke were dripping with sweet venom. “We’ll play until we’re done.”

Everyone in the room took a sharp breath. The game continued almost against everyone’s will. There was no way this was going to end alright.

Several more turns around the board landed the Haru and Makoto in jail. Haru buried her face in her hands. “I hate this game. Nothing even matters anymore. You know what? Jail is fine. Just. Jail is so fine. Fuck me. This is what I wanted.”

Makoto looked at Haru again in surprise. Haru’s language had slowly been deteriorating during the course of the game but Makoto hadn’t thought Haru would say fuck out loud. Sure, everyone else had been using foul language. Makoto wasn't sure how many times she'd heard the phrase, "Well just fuck me in the ass," by all of them. But for the rest of them, that was par for the course. Makoto was nearly out of her seat with how uncomfortable everything had become.

When it came back to their turn, Haru handed Makoto the dice. “Please. Roll doubles so we don’t have to pay the fine. I’m begging you.”

Makoto nodded and threw the dice on the board. Not doubles. A four and three. It was almost like the game was taunting her now. “Seven.” The fine was paid and Makoto moved the piece seven spaces.

“Oh god, not community chest!” Haru exclaimed. “That’s not good.”

Futaba pulled a card and read it aloud, “Go directly to jail. Do not pass go.”

“I’m going to die!” Haru exclaimed. She sat back dramatically in her chair and threw her arm over her face. “I don’t understand. Someone, please put an end to my suffering.”

Makoto gentle pat her on the head. “I’m sorry, Haru. I guess I’m just bad luck.”

Haru chuckled sadly. “It’s fine. But if those bastards don’t land on our property next round, I’m going to flip the board.”

The next turn nobody landed on their spaces. The board was indeed flipped but by Makoto who was just as frustrated at Haru at this point. “This is dumb,” she stated. “I’m done.” Of course, she hadn’t cared as much as Haru about winning or losing this game. She just felt she should be the one to flip it. It felt incredible.

Ren leaned back with a loud sigh and a stretch. “Finally. It’s been three hours. Futaba, what’re the standings?”

“Ren and Ryuji were first with Ann and Shiho being a close second. Makoto and Haru last.”

Haru sighed. “Monopoly sucks. This was the worst game ever invented.”

Everyone at the table laughed. At least the mood after the game was still pleasant and nobody wanted to kill each other. Ren and Ryuji had gotten started on putting all the pieces away while Ann and Shiho were cleaning up the take-out.

“Well,” Makoto said stretching, “I need to get home.”

“I’ll take you home,” Haru said. “It’s the least I can do since it’s a little late and we lost horribly.”

“I’d like that,” Makoto said with a smile.

 

The two girls left the shop with pleasant goodbyes and walked along the streets. They were walking close together, talking quietly to keep what they were saying between them.

“I don’t think we missed the last train,” Haru mused. “We should be able to make it. If not, we can probably get a ride.”

“If you take me home then you won’t make it back to your house,” Makoto said in a concerned voice. “Perhaps we should split up at the train station.”

“That’s fine,” Haru said waving a dismissive hand. “I can get someone to pick me up.”

“Oh….” Makoto kicked a stone with her foot and sent it flying ahead of them.

“Or… I could stay the night… If you wouldn’t mind.” Haru’s voice was quiet and she was almost hesitant to ask.

“Oh?”

“If that’s okay. I don’t want to impose.”

“Haru, I’d love to have a sleepover with you,” Makoto said. “And it’ll be better this time since you’re not drunk!”

Haru’s cheeks flushed red and she shoved Makoto slightly. “Stop being mean to me.”

“Do you want a ride?” Makoto asked through her slight giggles.

“What?”

Makoto bounced over to a short wall and gestured for Haru to get on top. Makoto gave her a slight lift up to help her get on top. She turned around and gestured to her back. “Get on!”

Haru climbed onto Makoto’s back and Makoto took off with surprising speed for having a whole other person on her. Haru giggled uncontrollably as they wandered through the streets towards the train station. She had never imagined in her life getting a piggyback ride from another girl on such a beautiful night. She decided to make the most of it and leaned into Makoto, hugging her tightly.

It didn’t take them long to get back to Makoto’s apartment. It was nothing extravagant or large. It was a single room with a bathroom and a kitchen. The bed took up one corner and a table sat in the middle. Makoto had a desk in the other back corner that was covered in books and papers from her studies. The entire apartment was in a sort of organized chaos. Haru could tell that even though it was messy everything was right where Makoto could find it.

“Can I make you any tea or anything?” Makoto asked. She seemed sheepish having Haru over. It probably had something to do with Haru’s own home being incredibly extravagant compared to Makoto’s. Added to the fact that Makoto hadn’t cleaned because she hadn’t thought anybody was coming over.

“A glass of water would be just fine,” Haru said. “Thank you.”

Makoto nodded and fetched Haru a glass of water. Haru sat on the floor at the low table in the room. When Makoto returned she set the glass down and Haru thanked her again.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment. It was an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to really say. The last time they’d spent the night together Haru had been drunk and really unable to do anything except go to bed. Now they were both fully aware of the situation.

“I guess I get to use your bath this time,” Haru said trying to lighten the mood. She paused. Why did she say that?

Makoto chuckled awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. If you want.”

God, was she going to have to take a bath now that she said that? It would be weird if she didn’t, right? Oh, this was just so awkward. Why was she so awkward? Haru was mentally kicking herself for having said that. She didn’t even have a change of clothes.

“Well, I am a little tired right now,” Haru said. “So perhaps we should just go to sleep.”

Makoto nodded. “That’s fine by me. I’m super tired after everything. You can go ahead and use the bed. I’ll take the floor.”

“Are you sure?” Haru asked slightly surprised. “You always seem to end up on the floor.”

“The bed is slightly comfier so I’ll let you have it.” Makoto smiled brightly. “No arguing.”

The two of them got ready for bed. Makoto loaned Haru a t-shirt and shorts to wear to bed since she didn’t have anything on her. Once Haru was settled in bed, Makoto set up her floor mat, flipped off the lights, and took her place on the floor.

Haru stared at the ceiling for a long while. It was weird sleeping in someone else’s bed. Makoto’s bed wasn’t as soft or big as hers at home, not that it was necessarily bad. It did smell like Makoto though. Haru pulled one of the pillows close to herself and buried her face in it. 

“Makoto,” she murmured as she breathed out.

“Yeah?” Makoto responded from the floor. She sounded sleepy as if she had dozed off and was woken up by Haru calling her.

Haru hadn’t meant to say that so loud. “Oh, nothing. Are you sure you don’t want the bed?”

“It’s fine. I’m okay down here.” Haru heard her shift under the blankets.

“Okay… Can you come up here for a minute though? I want to ask you something.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Makoto crawled slowly up onto the bed and laid down on the edge. She must’ve not been kidding about being tired. She looked incredibly so.

Haru gently took one of Makoto’s arms and laid it across the pillow. She rested her head over it and then took Makoto’s other arm and pulled it over herself. She was now wrapped up in Makoto’s arms. She scooted closer and tucked her head underneath Makoto’s chin. 

“Hi there,” Makoto said quietly. Her voice was slightly shaky and Haru could hear the slight hitch in her breath.

“Is this okay?” Haru asked quietly. She hadn’t considered if Makoto would be okay with this and was ready to pull away if she asked.

“I’m fine if you’re fine,” Makoto responded.

Haru nodded and Makoto nuzzled her face into Haru’s hair. They both settled in again. Haru could barely control her breathing. She wasn’t sure what this meant for either of them. She wasn’t sure what it would mean in the morning. She really, really hoped this would lead to something. Anything. She’d definitely have to talk to Ren in the morning.


	5. Unexpected Turn of Events

Haru was leaning against the counter of Leblanc quietly checking her phone. Ren stood beside her, flipping through the channels on the television in the corner. The day was as quiet as ever. They hadn’t had a customer since earlier that morning and had finished cleaning everything for the third time. Haru was starting to get concerned that they’d start cleaning holes through things if they kept it up. Ren seemed content to let them have the break, although Haru did feel a bit guilty about not having done much that day.

Haru was currently waiting for a text back from Makoto. Ann had invited Haru on a double date to go to a karaoke bar. Haru hadn’t done karaoke in a long while and going with Ann and Shiho was always a good time. Ann was actually the one who suggested that Haru invite Makoto along. She said that if Makoto still liked her after the whole monopoly fiasco then karaoke should be a breeze. Haru couldn’t help but agree.

Unfortunately, Makoto had been fairly busy recently, which was normal for her it seemed. Haru rarely saw a time when Makoto wasn't busting her ass to get something or other done. The group had gotten together several times in the last few weeks and Makoto had only been able to attend two of them. Schoolwork had taken over her life again. As much as Makoto did well in school, she had to work very hard for those grades and keep up with her studies. Haru had gone over to Makoto’s place quite a few times to help her study.

Haru’s face flushed at the thought of going over to Makoto’s place. Neither of them had really spoken of the night where they'd spent the night together in Makoto’s bed. Or about the fact that Haru had done it a couple more times when studying went late. It was weird because it seemed clear that they liked each other. They just hadn’t talked about their feelings and nothing had become of their interactions as of yet. Haru thought that if she made the first move then Makoto would confess her feelings. But it didn’t seem to be going that way.

Haru sighed and leaned her head against the counter.

“Thinking about your girlfriend?” Ren asked. He leaned against the counter and pat Haru gently on the back. Sometimes she wished Ren could just be her boyfriend. He was always taking care of her anyway. If only he wasn't completely insufferable. 

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Haru muttered. “And that’s the problem. I don’t think I’ve been being shy about the fact that I like her. But I… want her to tell me she likes me.”

“Have you told her that you like her?”

“Well, no… Well, not like with words.”

Even though Haru couldn’t see his face, she knew full well that he had raised an eyebrow at her. Maybe she was being a little unreasonable. Maybe Makoto was just too shy or reserved to ask Haru out. Makoto was considerate like that.

“Maybe you should tell her you like her too,” Ren said. “Just a thought.”

“I hate that you’re right," Haru said with a sigh. "Well, if she goes to karaoke tonight, then maybe I’ll say in words that I like her.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Haru’s phone chirped and she practically jumped on it.

**12:06**  
Haru to Makoto

> **Makoto** : What time is karaoke tonight? Who’s going too?  
>  **Haru** : Ann was saying 18:30. It was going to be just Ann, Shiho, you, and me.  
>  **Makoto** : Ah girls’ night? Is Futaba-chan invited?  
>  **Haru** : Karaoke isn’t really her thing but I could ask. I don’t see any problem with her being asked along. No guarantees that she’ll come though.  
>  **Makoto** : That’s fine. But if all us girls are going out, I don’t want her to feel left out of it.  
>  **Haru** : That makes sense. I’ll ask (:

After sending a text to Ann and Futaba, Haru turned back to Ren. “She’s ruining our double date without realizing,” she said with a pouty face.

“What do you mean?” Ren asked. He was facing towards the tv, not fully paying attention to it.

“Makoto wants to invite Futaba along," Haru explained.

“That’s very considerate of her.” Ren smiled slyly and looked at Haru out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe she likes Futaba.”

Haru smacked him hard on the shoulder. “Don’t even joke about that!”

“Maybe she wants to go on a date with Futaba,” Ren teased.

Haru chased him out from behind the counter. He was laughing as hard as he possibly could, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. She jumped at him and grabbed him around the waist. “You’re so mean, Ren,” she whined. “But… do you really think she likes Futaba?”

“No," he said bluntly. "I’m just messing with you. Futaba’s a little young and immature for her. You’re much more her speed. Also, Futaba would shoot her down instantly. There would be bloodshed.”

Haru giggled halfheartedly. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Guess I'm just a little on edge since she hasn't said she likes me.”

Ren stiffened. "What?"

"Makoto hasn't actually said that she likes me out loud either," Haru confessed, her grip around him tightening. "So I'm kind of worried that she might not."

Ren turned around and cupped her face. He had a fiery look in his large, grey eyes. Haru felt her heart skip a beat, but it wasn't for him. Her mind had instantly gone to Makoto. She wanted Makoto to look at her like this. 

"How could anyone not like you?" Ren asked in a soft, warm voice. 

As he leaned in for a fake kiss, Haru's phone chirped and she pulled away quickly to check it before Ren could finish his whole bit. Ren scoffed at her but she barely acknowledged him. Ann said it was okay that Futaba tagged along if she wanted. Futaba said she already had a date with several video game girls and that she’d pass this time around. But she thanked Haru for the invite nonetheless.

Haru heaved a relieved sigh. “Futaba doesn’t want to go.”

“Did you think she would?” Ren asked, seeming to have recovered from his botched bit.

“You never really know what she’s going to say. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn’t.”

“She is a very strange girl indeed,” Ren agreed.

The bell chimed over the door. Makoto walked in carrying her backpack over her shoulder. She took in the scene. Ren standing awkwardly close to Haru and Haru still having one arm looped loosely around his waist. “Good afternoon,” Makoto said, her eyebrow raised. "Having fun?

Haru slid away from Ren more, but he seemed unphased. "We were just discussing something," Haru said. "Nothing more to it."

“Come here to study?” Ren asked now, trying to move the conversation along.  He moved behind the counter and started to fix her regular drink.

“Yeah,” Makoto responded, shaking her head slightly. “I’m swamped again.”

“Is it alright that we’re going to karaoke tonight?” Haru asked. She had seated herself across from Makoto.

Makoto waved her hand. “Yeah. I can take a break every once in a while,” she said with a smile. “It’ll be fun to loosen up a bit tonight.”

Haru smiled brightly and reached across the table to grab Makoto’s book. Since she'd been helping Makoto study most of the things she vaguely understood now.

Ren brought over the cup of coffee. “Here you are.”

“Jeez, Ren,” Makoto said taking the cup gratefully, “you always take good care of me. Are you perhaps interested?” She sipped at her cup and quirked an eyebrow at him.

Ren laughed and Haru looked ready to pass out. How was Ren simultaneously hitting on both of them at the same time? Haru knew it was just his personality and the fact that he wasn't half bad to look at. It just rubbed her the wrong way hearing Makoto say that after she'd just confided in Ren that Makoto hadn't said she liked her yet.

“Makoto, if I didn’t already have a boyfriend, be sure that I’d give you my number,” he said in a serious tone.

“R-Ren!” Haru sputtered, standing from her seat slightly. “She’s gay!”

Ren laughed again. “Maybe so. But I could still show her a good time.” He winked and went off back behind the counter.

Haru sat back down and arranged herself again. She fought down a wave of embarrassment for getting so worked up by that. She knew Ren was only joking with her. He wasn’t being serious about any of the things he said. It just got a little under her skin. It’s not like Makoto had asked her out. Makoto could be totally interested in someone else. Maybe Haru’d read the signs wrong. Maybe Makoto didn’t like her. 

“Are you feeling alright, Haru?” Makoto asked. “You look a little pale.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Haru said shaking herself out of her thoughts. “Just thinking about something is all. Don’t worry about it.” She shot Makoto a smile and turned her attention to the book she’d taken.

The two sat in comfortable silence while Makoto studied and Haru engaged herself in Makoto’s books that she didn’t need at the moment. Haru kept sneaking glances at Makoto every chance she could. She knew Ren could see her, but hoped that Makoto wasn’t noticing. Ren could die right now for all she cared. He was being a bit meanie.

Haru was finding it hard to focus. It was still wearing on her that she didn’t know how Makoto felt. Maybe Makoto was just very nice and was taking Haru’s advances as a nice gesture. Since neither of them had said they liked the other one, perhaps Makoto just thought Haru was being nice. But it wasn’t like Haru just said she was bi just to say it. It was a pointed statement that she liked girls. Everything was so confusing.

Soon enough, Ann and Shiho arrived at the coffee shop. Ann smiled and waved at Haru and Makoto before taking a seat at the counter to talk to Ren. It was still a little before they’d have to leave to get to the karaoke place, so the other two girls were settling in.

Shiho slid into the booth beside Haru and leaned in close to her ear. “Ann said you should make a move,” she whispered quietly.

Haru blushed. “Um, yeah,” she responded quietly.

“Just warning you,” Shiho whispered again. “Ann might say something.”

“Thanks, Shiho.”

  
The place they had decided on going was one of the smaller places nearby Leblanc. It was easier to get into on short notice and was a bit cheaper than other places deeper in the heart of the city. It wasn't anything fancy. The room they sat in was small and quiet. Once the four of them had gotten settled in, they ordered drinks and snacks.

Ann offered to go first singing to break the ice. She sang a song in English, since she was the only one who could speak it fluently. Haru understood only a small portion of the song. Ann wasn’t a great singer, but she wasn’t terrible either. Shiho, of course, was stunned to silence the whole time. And Haru thought that she had it bad. At least she could be around Makoto and not gawk every time she moved.

Haru went up next. She picked a song she knew fairly well. It was one that she really liked to sing when she went out to karaoke with everyone else. It was also a love song that was upbeat and required almost no talent. Maybe it’d help set the mood for later when she confessed her love to Makoto. The song went over well and set Haru a bit more at ease.

Surprisingly enough, Makoto went up next. She had a couple of drinks in her now, not enough for her to be drunk but enough to ease her up a little bit. She picked a song that was very sappy and lovey, even moreso than the one Haru had picked. Maybe she was trying to say something. She sang loudly and completely off key. It was actually horrible. But she was having lots of fun with it, it seemed. She’d really thrown herself into it. And maybe it was Haru’s imagination but it really seemed like Makoto was singing to her. Makoto plopped down on the couch again, very close to Haru. Ann picked another song and began singing.

Makoto whispered to Haru, “Did you like my song?”

“It was a little sappy,” Haru responded. “But it was nice.”

“Thank you. I sang it just for you.” She poked Haru in the cheek.

Haru blushed. What could Makoto possibly mean by that? Did it mean that she liked her? Did it mean she wanted to get together? Or was it more of the fact that she'd come to karaoke for Haru? Haru felt a little dizzy.

The phone rang and Shiho was the one who picked it up. “Would we like to extend our time?” she asked the group.

By this point, all the girls had sung a few songs. They’d had their fair share of food and drinks. Haru deemed it time to leave. “I’m good to go if everyone else is,” Haru said.

“We’ll head out,” Ann said. 

Shiho relayed the message accordingly.

 

The night air was stagnant and warm. Sad but true, spring was going to turn into summer. They still had time left of spring but it wouldn't last long. At least that would mean summer vacation. Unfortunately, that didn’t guarantee Haru time to spend with Makoto. In fact, it was more likely that Makoto had plans already.

Makoto was munching on chocolate as they walked. It was something she’d picked up at a convenience store almost as soon as they left karaoke. She seemed much more inclined to sweets after she’d been drinking Haru noted.

“Haru,” Makoto said softly, “you know that summer will be here before you know it.”

Haru nodded. “I was just thinking about that actually,” she responded. "The night is very hot."

Makoto giggled. “We’re very in sync. Anyway, my sister suggested going to a hot spring over the summer.”

“That sounds very nice,” Haru said. “A hot spring vacation with your sister sounds wonderful.”

“Well, yes." Makoto was looking down at her feet. "I would rather like if I didn’t go alone with her though.”

Haru looked at her with a questioning look on her face. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I guess if my sister was okay with it, it’d be nice to go with everyone. Of course, my sister won’t pay for it and I’m going to have to spend time alone with her. But… if she says yes, do you think everyone would be willing?”

Haru paused. “I’m sure everyone would love that…” She had thought that Makoto was going to ask just her to go along. Of course, that would’ve been awkward. What would Haru even say to that? “You should start asking now though. Just to make sure that everybody gets on the same page.”

“Of course.” Makoto smiled. “Even if my sister says no, I think we all should go on our own then. We’re old enough.”

Haru nodded. “Maybe we can do both.”

Makoto smiled. “Maybe!”

Haru looked anywhere but at Makoto. “So, Makoto, I wanted to tell you something.”

“And what’s that?”

“I… um… really like you. I like you a lot actually. And I kind of wanted to… make us official…” Haru managed to say.

Makoto stopped in her tracks and Haru’s heart froze as she stepped two more paces past Makoto. Was she wrong after all? Did Makoto not like her like that? Just because Makoto was gay didn’t mean that she liked Haru. She could still have preferences for other girls that weren’t Haru. Makoto did say that Ann was very attractive. Maybe Ann was more her type. One word kept repeating through Haru’s head and it wasn’t a pleasant one.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto said. Haru felt like her heart was going to stop dead in her chest. “I thought we… kind of already were official?” The questioning tone at the end almost threw Haru physically off balance. "Or at least something more than friends."

She turned her Makoto. There were tears welling up in her eyes, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. “What?”

“I’m sorry, Haru, don’t cry. You just had already admitted you liked me, albeit drunk. But then your behavior changed to match the mood. I figured even though you were drunk you’d meant it. I took that as a sign that we were already something. You’ve slept over how many times now? I don’t just let any girl spend the night.”

Haru blushed bright red, tears streaming down her face. “B-But you n-never said you liked me. I-I didn’t even know—you didn’t tell me you liked me.”

Makoto cocked her head to the side. “I bought you those earrings?”

“Yeah, but you got Ren a gift too.”

“That was because I was repaying his kindness. It wasn’t a very personalized gift, if you remember. I put in a lot of effort and thought into yours.”

Haru wiped her tears on the back of her sleeve. “So you’ve liked me this whole time.”

“Yes.”

“Can you… say it?”

“I like you, Haru Okumura," Makoto announced. She stood up straighter and stared Haru down as she said it. "I really like you. I might even be close to saying I love you.”

Haru clutched at her chest. Her heart really was going to give out from all of this. Her tears started anew. “I like you, Makoto Niijima.”

Makoto closed the gap between them and threw her arms around Haru. She held her tightly in the biggest hug she could muster. “You’re so silly for thinking I didn’t like you.”

“I… can’t argue with that one.”

Makoto laughed. “We should get home. Would you like to come back to my place?”

“I would love to.”


	6. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the last chapter was a little short and i wanted something fluffy to be in between the last chapter and the chapter to come. also to somewhat break up the timeline from the last chapter to the next one.  
> also, they need to have their first kiss which is a Big Deal.  
> so here's the fluffiest chapter ever starring your favorites.  
> hope you enjoy.

Haru was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. It was still early in the morning, perhaps 6 a.m. or so. The ceiling wasn't her ceiling and the bed wasn't her bed. Both belonged to Makoto. Although they were starting to become more familiar than her own. It was becoming harder and harder to remember how many times a week she'd spend the night at Makoto's house. It seemed she'd be over there for one reason or another and then would end up not going home. Not that any of that truly mattered.

It wasn't as if it mattered where she spent her nights and whether they were alone or with someone. It wasn't like she had parents who were concerned about her well-being and where she ended up each night. She was free and in a relationship with a girl she couldn't get enough of. Spending time with that girl made her incredibly happy. It also may have given her a reason to not face any other problems she was having. Of course, that was an entirely different matter.

Makoto sat on the floor, reading a book at the low table. She was still in her pajamas which consisted of a loose tank top and men's boxer briefs. With the weather as warm as it had turned recently, Haru couldn't blame her. Sharing a bed with anything more on would've been absolutely unbearable. The early morning sun was just peaking through the curtains, shining right on Makoto. The book was spread between her fingers in one hand while her other played with a can of coffee on the table. Haru noted that the book was one that Makoto was reading for fun and not one that she was being forced to read for school.

Haru moved slightly and felt unusually chilly. She peeked under the blanket and realized she was in just a tight-fitting undershirt and her underwear. She blushed slightly, vaguely recalling that she'd removed her shorts in the night because she was incredibly hot. She glanced to the side and there, just past the edge of the bed, were her shorts. She wanted to grab them but also didn't want to alert Makoto to the fact that she was awake. She shifted towards the edge of the bed.

Makoto glanced over at her and smiled. "Hey, Haru. Didn't know you were awake. Good morning."

"Good morning," Haru responded shyly.

Makoto set her book down on the table and turned her full attention to Haru, which was pretty much the last thing Haru had wanted. "Should I make us breakfast? Or would you rather go out for something?"

"I suppose that depends on what you want to make me."

Makoto laughed. She stood up and walked to the edge of the bed. Haru responded by pulling the blankets up to her chin. "Are you going to be picky with me?" Makoto asked.

"Maybe..." Haru completely ducked underneath the blankets.

Makoto laughed again and jumped onto the bed. She wrestled with the blankets and Haru to try and get them off the bed. Haru was squealing and laughing the entire time while Makoto chanted about tickling her.

Makoto had Haru pinned down now, her hands keeping Haru's down beside her head. The blankets were now haphazardly thrown to the floor. Makoto's face flushed red, both from the exertion of fighting her girlfriend and realizing that Haru didn't have her shorts on. Her grip on Haru's wrists tightened.

Haru stared up at her with wide eyes. _Kiss me_ , she thought. _Please kiss me, Mako-chan._

Unfortunate as it was, Haru was beginning to think neither of them knew how to be in a relationship. They seemed to be doing things in the completely wrong order. Despite Haru spending the night regularly, they had yet to even share their first kiss. At this point, Haru had kissed Ren more times than she'd kissed her own girlfriend.

Makoto sat back and looked away from Haru. She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you..."

Haru knew where that sentence was going. Even so, she felt disappointed that Makoto had pulled away instead of going for the kiss. She sat up, her feelings of embarrassment temporarily being thrown to the side. It wasn't like she expected Makoto to make the first move. Haru had also tried to make their first kiss happen several times. She'd also given Makoto more than enough opportunities to kiss her as well. Makoto just seemed to back out of them every time. It was beginning to be very frustrating.

"Makoto," Haru said in as serious a tone as she could muster given the position they were in.

Makoto's face dropped. Haru rarely called her anything other than Mako-chan when they were in private. "Y-Yes?"

"Why won't you kiss me?"

Makoto blanched. "Wh-What do you mean? Of course I'll kiss you. There you go again being all silly about me not liking you... aha..."

Haru raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying that lame response. "Makoto, we've had endless amounts of opportunities to kiss. You could've kissed me right now. I guess," she paused for a second, "I don't want to force you to kiss me if you're not comfortable. I would like to know why, though. It would help me understand you better."

Makoto shifted away from her. "I've never kissed anyone," she mumbled.

"Ever?"

"Yeah... If we kissed it would be my very first kiss..." Makoto looked away as if this was something to be ashamed of.

"Are you scared?" Haru moved closer to her again. She rested a hand gently on Makoto's shoulder. 

"A little bit. What if it isn't good?"

Haru chuckled. "We all have to start somewhere you know. Ann and Shiho's first kiss was a travesty."

Makoto's head snapped to attention. "What?! They're like the perfect couple. How was their first kiss not perfect?"

 Haru nodded. "I felt the same way when I first heard that too. That's why it makes a very funny story to tell now."

Makoto leaned closer to Haru. "Well, what happened? You have to tell me now."

"Ann was trying to be smooth and wanted to surprise Shiho with the kiss," Haru explained. "Except it didn't quite turn out that way. They ended up butting heads and Shiho got a bloody lip. They had to rush to the bathroom and get her cleaned up. Ann was apologizing profusely the whole time. Shiho just found the whole mishap utterly hilarious."

Makoto looked away thoughtfully. "That does sound like them. I hope ours turns out a little bit better."

Haru moved closer to Makoto again and laid her down on the bed. She sat on top of the other girl and looked down at her with a warm gaze. As gently as she could, she cupped Makoto's cheek in one hand and with the other brushed loose hair out of Makoto's face. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

Makoto's breathing had hitched and become uneven. Her face gave away how flustered she was, both with her unfocused eyes and bright red color. Her response was soft and unsure. "Yes."

"Right now?" Haru clarified. "Do you want me to kiss you right now?"

"Well... yes." It seemed she was having trouble speaking. Haru hoped it wasn't because she was being sat on and that she had just been affected that much. "I'm nervous about it... What if my breath smells?"

Haru leaned forward. She felt the other girl tense under her. "Open your mouth a bit," she directed. Makoto obeyed without a second thought and Haru leaned forward to smell her. "It only smells a little."

"Haru!" Makoto exclaimed. "You're supposed to lie about those things!"

Haru laughed. "Sorry! Sorry!"

Makoto turned her head to the side. It was about all the movement she could make with Haru on top of her. "What if it's weird?"

Haru grabbed Makoto's chin and turned her back towards her. She smiled softly. "It won't be weird. I promise." She gently laid a finger against Makoto's lips. "I'm going to count to three, move my finger, and kiss you. Does that sound okay?"

Makoto breathed out a soft, "Yeah." Haru could feel her breath coming in short, sharp breaths on her finger.

"Close your eyes," Haru instructed and Makoto obeyed. "One... Two... Three..."

Haru moved her finger off of Makoto's lips and replaced it with her lips. There was a brief spark of pure adrenaline that shot through her. It felt like all her nerves had been set on fire. Her heart was pounding in her chest. It took her a moment to ease into the kiss a little more. She had to lead this situation because it was clear Makoto didn't know what to do now that they had started the kiss.

Makoto's arms were flopped awkwardly to the side. Haru grabbed one of them without breaking the kiss and brought it to rest on her back. Makoto moved her other arm herself and brought her hand to rest on the nap of Haru's neck.

Haru's skin prickled with the sensation. She felt drunk but in an extremely pleasant way. She knew the hangover from this was going to be wonderful. She felt Makoto's hand inch its way up into her hair and tangle itself in her curls. She couldn't stop the smile that formed on her lips.

She pulled away barely an inch from the kiss and Makoto let out a soft breath. "I love you so much," Haru whispered before dipping in for a second kiss.

They kissed for a short while. They didn't do anything fancy or complicated. This kiss meant enough on its own. Haru knew that years down the line they wouldn't remember the intricate details of the kiss so much as the moment that had brought it forth. She'd remember how Makoto had shifted so they both laid on their sides. She'd remember how she placed her hand against Makoto's chest and could feel her erratic heartbeat there. She'd remember that this was Makoto's first kiss. She wanted to make it something that she'd be fond of later.

They finally broke away from each other. Makoto buried her face into Haru's chest, snuggling up as close as she possibly could. Haru held her tightly, hoping that everything was okay. 

"Haru," Makoto said softly. "I love you so much..."

Haru pet Makoto's hair and kissed the top of her head. "You're amazing, Makoto. That was a wonderful kiss."

Makoto laughed awkwardly. "Ah... is that what you say after these things?"

Haru blinked in surprise. "Um... I'm not sure if you really need to say anything, truly. I just thought you'd like to know that it wasn't awkward for me and I really enjoyed it."

"Thank you, Haru... It means a lot to me."

"Now make me breakfast!" Haru declared. "I gave you the kiss of a lifetime. The least you could do it breakfast!"


	7. Hot Hot Springs Vacation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a little bit longer to write. i hope you enjoy.  
> since this is an episodic story at this point, if you have any sort of scene or scenario that you'd like to see Haru and Makoto in feel free to comment down below or hit me up on my blog sandersinabox.tumblr.com. i could always use more ideas and would love to write what you want to see. plus the more ideas i have the more chapters that get written.
> 
> also quick update, this might not update for a little while because ill be out of commission for id say three weeks to a month soon and don't know if ill be feeling up to writing. so if i don't get the chapter up before that happens then it'll be longer until it updates! hopefully ill have something up before then.

Haru was bustling around the apartment trying to pack up and put away anything that she could help Makoto with. They’d slept in later than they meant to and now had to work within a tighter time frame. They had to meet the rest of the group at Leblanc in less than an hour and it would take them at least thirty minutes to get there with traffic. That left them about twenty minutes to get ready, which neither of them was.

Haru was hurriedly trying to clean up the room a bit before they left. She was picking up day old dishes, clothes, and all matter of other things littered on the floor. She hadn’t realized how messy Makoto’s place was until she really started to clean it. Once they were home, she'd make Makoto deep-clean it. With a handful of dishes, she started back toward the kitchen.

As she passed by the center of the room, she caught her shin on the low table. She let out a sharp yelp then bit her lip to keep the profanity from rolling out. A couple of tears sprung to her eyes from the shock and pain. At least she hadn’t dropped any of the dishes she was carrying.

Makoto poked her head out of the bathroom. Her eyes came to rest on Haru's distressed face. “Whahappuned?” she asked through a mouthful of toothpaste.

“I hit my shin on the table,” Haru said. Her shin was still throbbing but she’d live. “I’m fine.”

Makoto ducked back into the bathroom and Haru sighed and continued her way into the kitchen. She'd thought Makoto would've shown a little bit more concern for her. She dumped the dishes into the sink and started to rinse them off. They’d have to start taking better care of these things. Haru’s room at home was always spotless. She’d forgiven Makoto’s messiness only because she had convinced herself that she didn’t live there. At this point, though, she basically did.

Just as she was about to turn back towards the main room Makoto’s arms wrapped around her waist. Haru let out a small noise of surprise as she felt Makoto’s lips meet the back of her neck. Makoto’s arms tightened around her and she rested her face in the crook of her neck and shoulder. Haru’s breath caught. It was rare for Makoto to initiate such intimate contact.

“Are you okay?” Makoto mumbled, her mouth brushing against Haru's skin in a manner that sent shivers down Haru's spine. She smelled like mint.

Haru leaned back into Makoto, letting the other girl's presence soothe her. She rested her hands over Makoto’s. “Yeah, I’m fine. We really need to get going.”

Makoto pulled away much to Haru’s dismay. “I’m almost ready.”

Haru nodded. “I’m all packed. I was just cleaning up a little bit so we didn’t leave things sitting out for the next four days.”

Makoto nodded. “Thank you, darling.”

The girls finally managed to get all of their things together and headed out for Leblanc. Thankfully, traffic was kind to them. They stumbled into the coffee shop only five minutes past when they were supposed to be there.

Ren raised an eyebrow at them. “We were about to leave on your vacation without you,” he said with a chuckle.

“It was a long morning,” Haru said. “Let’s go meet Makoto’s sister at the station now!”

 

Haru sat on the train, her bag sitting beside her on the seat. Across from her, Makoto was sitting beside her sister. The rest of the gang had fanned out around the train, as the energy radiating from Sae Niijima was unbearable. Haru was used to dealing with unwelcoming and even rude adults. She was used to being yelled at, berated, and all around treated less than human. However, Sae Niijima was none of those things but still made Haru incredibly uncomfortable.

Sae had an aura about her that Haru couldn’t really put into words. It was something like displeasure mixed with irritation and a dash of seething rage. If she happened to catch Sae’s eye, an immediate chill would run down her spine. Sae hadn’t spoken much to Haru at this point and the words she had said were curt and direct. It seemed as though Sae didn’t know how to deal with young adults just as much as they had trouble dealing with her.

Makoto, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed by her sister. It was what Haru could have only expected as Makoto was the most well-versed in dealing with Sae. Haru could also see why Makoto had wanted to move out as soon as she graduated high school. Sae must’ve been a draining person to be around for a long time.

However, the two seemed to get along very well, in Haru’s opinion. Makoto respected her sister to a great degree even if she didn’t particularly agree with everything her sister did or said. Haru could see why. Her sister was calm, dignified, and no-nonsense. There was no way people would walk over her in a courtroom. It was probably also why her presence was so strong in her everyday life as well. She seemed to not be able to separate her work and her home life very well. Although, if what Makoto had told Haru was true, Sae Niijima didn’t have much of a home life.

It also didn’t help that, on a train to take them to a hot springs vacation, Sae had chosen to wear a pants suit. Everybody else had dressed appropriately for a long train ride. Even Haru had dressed down for the occasion. Sitting across Sae now made her feel horribly underdressed. Whenever she met adults in such attire, it was generally for an important business meeting or meeting with an influential person in the business world. Being seen in short shorts and a tank top in front of such a high profile adult was almost embarrassing.

Haru had also learned that Makoto had not told her sister that they were dating. Makoto had whispered it in passing as they got on the train. She had tossed it casually over her shoulder as if this wasn’t very important information. Haru couldn’t help but feel upset by this. She knew that Makoto’s sister was scary; but, at the same time, if they wanted to continue dating her sister would have to know at some point. It was inevitable. And Haru was pretty sure they’d be in hot water if Sae found out indirectly instead of Makoto telling her. There was going to be too many opportunities for them to get caught at a hot spring. It was a recipe for disaster. 

Haru stood up which got her a questioning look from Makoto. “Excuse me,” Haru said politely to them. She moved out of the seat and down towards where Ann, Shiho, and Futaba were sitting. She sat down next to Futaba.

From this seat, she could see Makoto perfectly well. Makoto was watching her with a curious look. Haru snapped her attention away from Makoto in a direct manner and looked at Ann, who had her head leaned against the window and staring intently out of it. Shiho was gripping her hand tightly.

“Trouble in paradise?” Shiho asked, noticing Haru’s sharp glance.

“Makoto hasn’t told her sister that we’re together,” Haru explained. “She wants me to go on a hot springs vacation with her sister and hasn’t even told her we’re dating. Does she think this won’t end poorly? I don’t know what she’s thinking.”

“Is she even out to her sister?” Shiho asked.

Haru paused. “I... don't know.”

“That could be your answer then.”

“But… we’ve been officially dating for over a month now… How has she not told her sister?

“Not all of us can come out or feel comfortable doing so, you know,” Futaba piped up. “I’m not out to Sojiro.”

Haru blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know you weren’t,” Haru said. “But Sojiro seems like he would be okay with it if you did decide to come out. He is well aware of both Ren and I’s situation.”

Futaba shrugged and buried her face farther into her laptop, curling herself up tight on the seat. She hadn’t meant to make herself the center of attention on the matter.

“In the same vein, if Makoto’s sister has issues with gay people then why would Makoto invite all of her gay friends and her girlfriend to a hot spring? That seems like a horrible idea.”

“You should talk to Makoto instead of being mad at her,” Ann snapped. She paused and brought a hand to her mouth.

Haru noticed how uncomfortable Ann looked and the brief shock she felt from being snapped at was overtaken with concern. “Are you okay, Ann?”

“She gets bad motion sickness on long train rides and forgot to take something before we left,” Shiho explained quickly. “It’s not personal. All the talking is probably just breaking her concentration on not throwing up.”

“Oh,” Haru said. “I’m sorry I didn’t know. I’ll go back to my seat and leave you be.”

“I did mean what I said though,” Ann continued, her voice still tense but trying to be friendlier. “Just talk to her. She is your girlfriend after all.”

Haru nodded. “Thank you.” She walked back to her seat and smiled at a still slightly confused looking Makoto.

“Is something the matter?” Makoto asked though the real question implied in her tone was, “Are you mad at me?”

Haru shook her head. “No, no. Everything is fine. I just have to tell you something later, that’s all.”

“Do you need to talk now?” Makoto pressed.

Haru shot a glance at Sae. She was scrolling through her phone, her attention pulled completely towards it. However, Haru knew better than that. Sae was intently listening to every word they were saying, even if she didn’t show it. One slip up and it would be game over before it even started.

“It’s not pressing,” Haru insisted. “I’ll tell you later.”

Makoto sat back in her chair, seemingly unconvinced that she was out of the woods here. Clearly, there was some issue she was unaware of but she wasn’t about to break the dam right in front of her sister.

Haru pulled a piece of candy from her bag and offered it to Makoto. “Would you like this?” 

A peace offering. Makoto took it gingerly. She unwrapped it and shoved it in her mouth. Peppermint. Makoto was a little surprised that Haru had remembered to bring peppermint candy. She’d vaguely mentioned that her dad would get her and her sister massive bags of peppermint candies when they went on long trips to pass the time.

“Would you like one too, Niijima-san?” Haru asked politely.

Sae looked up from her phone. “Hmm? What is it?”

“Peppermint candy, that’s all. I was just wondering if you would like a piece.”

“If you’re offering,” Sae said. She took the piece of candy that Haru held out from her and popped it in her mouth. She seemed satisfied for the time being. The happy memory held true for her as well.

The rest of the train ride went smoothly. Haru kept to herself mostly until Makoto hopped sides and the two of them watched a couple videos on Makoto’s phone. Sae didn’t seem to mind her sister not paying attention to her. She was happy to sit in silence, only asking for another candy every now and again. 

Finally, the train came to halt at their stop and the group gathered their things and got off the train. Haru was surprised just how rural the town they had landed in was. There wasn’t much by the train station and they were going to have to sit and wait for a cab. Haru didn’t mind much, although it was ungodly hot outside. The air was muggy and the sun was not giving them a break. It would probably rain soon. She hoped that it wouldn't be while they were waiting.

After another half hour, they had finally arrived at the inn they would be staying at. It was a quiet little place tended by what seemed to be very little staff. As they entered the lobby they were greeted by a young man. He checked all of them in and led them to their rooms. The boys had rented one for themselves, the girls another, and Makoto and Sae would be sharing a room.

Haru set her things down in the room and watched as Ann practically collapsed into a chair in the corner of the room. She looked like she was going to be sick any second. Perhaps they would just stay inside tonight and give Ann some time to recover from the trip.

It barely was five minutes past before the boys came barging into their room. Ryuji was leading the pack, practically parading in.

“What should we do tonight, guys?” Ryuji asked.

“Shh,” Haru scolded him. “Ann is recovering from the trip.”

“Oh, damn. That’s right,” Ryuji said. “I forgot about your motion sickness. Ya didn’t take anything before we left?”

Shiho shook her head in Ann’s place. “She’ll probably be better later tonight,” she said, gently patting Ann on the head. “But we still shouldn’t go out or anything.”

“Well, we can eat dinner at the inn,” Ren said. “Do you want us to go out and buy some snacks for right now? We can just hang out and take a bath later.”

“I’m very excited to use the hot spring,” Yusuke said. “It will be my very first time.”

“You’ve never been to a hot spring before?” Haru asked. 

“Not that I recall,” he said with a nod.

“Well, aren’t you in for a treat,” Ryuji said clapping him on the back. “Now let’s leave the girls be and see what we can find in this little town.”

The boys bustled out of the room just as quickly as they had come in. Haru decided to make some tea and change into the offered yukata. Shiho followed her lead and the two girls helped each other get dressed.

“Futaba, would you like to put on a yukata?” Haru asked gently, holding up one for the other girl. 

Futaba had set her laptop up at the table and was already deeply engrossed in it. She looked up at Haru with an almost glazed over expression. “I’ve never worn one,” she mumbled.

“Oh, perfect!” Haru said. She grabbed Futaba by the wrists and stood her up. “Let’s get you all dressed up.”

Futaba was less than enthused but let Haru play dress up with her. Soon enough she was wrapped up in a yukata. Haru pulled Futaba’s hair back into a tight ponytail. She spun her in a circle a couple of times and then smiled.

“You look nice,” Haru said. She wrapped her arms around Futaba and kissed the top of her head. Futaba made a slightly disgruntled noise but didn’t fight her off. “You can go back to your computer now.”

Futaba adjusted her glasses, which had gotten messed up from being pressed into Haru's chest, and went back to her laptop.

There was a soft knock on the door and Makoto entered. She surveyed the room, spotted Haru, and made a b-line right for her. She wrapped her arms around Haru and kissed her gently on the cheek. 

Haru blinked in surprise from the sudden affection. “Uh… hello?”

Makoto pulled away looking sheepish. “Sorry…”

“It’s fine. You’re just not usually so affectionate. Especially this publicly.”

“Yeah, well you seemed mad at me earlier,” Makoto said. “I was hoping a kiss would help me out a little bit.”

“Oh right,” Haru said. She’d almost forgotten about that. “Why haven’t you told your sister about us?”

Makoto rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. “Oh… um… well, you see, the funny thing is that she doesn’t know that I’m a lesbian.”

Haru sighed. “I figured that was the case. You do realize though that inviting me on a vacation was probably the worst possible option here.”

“I know… But I really wanted to do this with you. I was also hoping that this trip would be a good excuse to tell her. It just never felt like the right time to tell her. I didn’t want to make it about me. She’s always so busy and can barely take care of herself. I didn’t want to put any extra strain on her.”

“Your sexuality shouldn’t really worry her, should it?”

“Well, no… But I don’t know. She might be worried if I’m okay in general. And… her job… It’s complicated, Haru. I want to tell her. That’s all that really matters right now.” 

Haru sighed and crossed her arms. This wasn’t really a battle she needed to fight. Makoto was right to have her doubts; and, at this point, there wasn’t anything Haru could do about the past. “Alright. I understand. I’m not mad about it either. I was just surprised that you invited me on this trip and failed to mention before we were boarding the train that you weren’t out to your sister.”

“Yeah… I’m really sorry about that. We were in a rush this morning.”

Haru nodded. “Where is your sister right now?”

“I told her I was going to spend a little time with you guys before we settled down in our room.” She eyed everyone already wearing yukata. “It doesn’t appear that you guys plan on going anywhere,” Makoto noted.

“The boys went to get us snacks,” Shiho said from the far side of the room. “Ann’s still sick from the train ride. It’s going to be a little bit before she recovers so we’re spending the night in.”

Makoto nodded. “Alright. Are you guys planning on doing anything?”

“Not particularly,” Haru said. “We’re probably going to just hang out.”

“Alright.”

Makoto sat down at the table beside Futaba and glanced at Futaba’s computer. She was just browsing a forum, not particularly doing anything. They started to get into a conversation about online forums.

Haru sat down on the other side of the table and started to scroll through her phone. She needed to clear her mind of the Sae Niijima thing and just enjoy her time here. _It shouldn't be too hard_ , she thought. _Just enjoy yourself._

It didn't take long for the boys to return with snacks. The group laid them out on the table in a somewhat buffet style for everyone to enjoy. As with their usual meals together, the banter was friendly and Ren and Shiho were fighting about who was the better significant other. 

“I’m clearly the strongest,” Shiho said. She rolled up her sleeve and flexed her arm, showing off her muscles. Haru couldn’t deny she was impressed by the tone in Shiho's arm.

“Wait,” Makoto cut in. “I have to say I’m pretty strong as well.” All eyes turned to her and she shrunk back just a tiny bit.

“Prove it,” Shiho said, egging her on.

Makoto rolled up her sleeve and flexed as Shiho had. Sure enough, there was a well-defined shape to her muscle even tighter than Shiho's. It was almost like it had been cut there by someone. Haru’s eyebrows rose as she gawked at her girlfriend. Makoto usually didn’t show herself off, even when they were alone together. Of course, Haru knew that Makoto was strong—Makoto could lift her with almost no problem and had carried her around countless numbers of times—but she’d never admired her muscles this way before.

“Hot damn,” Haru breathed.

Makoto blushed and shot a surprised look at Haru, who also was blushing profusely after she realized what she’d said. The rest of the group laughed.

Once the snacks were long past gone and the conversation had died down, there was a knock on the door. “Makoto?”

“Ah, it’s just my sister,” Makoto said getting up. She opened up the door and Sae came walking in.

As usual, Sae seemed all important as she walked into the room. She was dressed in a yukata now, but even so seemed to wear it better than everybody in the room. Her gaze passed over each of them, not missing a single one. It finally came to rest on Makoto.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said with an air of someone who wasn’t really sorry. “Makoto, I’ve asked them to serve dinner soon. If you could please come back to the room so we can have dinner. Then we’ll take a bath and your friends can join us there. I’d love to talk to them. I would just like to have dinner alone with you tonight.”

Makoto nodded. “Of course, sis. I lost track of time.” Makoto turned back to the room. “See you guys in a bit.”

The group called their goodbyes and then turned back to the table once she’d left.

“I can’t wait to take a dip in the hot spring,” Ann mumbled. She was at least starting to feel better. “It’s going to feel so nice.”

“I can’t wait for you to take a dip in the hot spring,” Shiho responded. “It’s going to be really nice.”

“I’ve basically been on the verge of puking all day. I do not feel attractive at all. Chill.”

Shiho chuckled. “I’m just teasing you. Although, if I have to see any more of Makoto’s toned body, I might cry. Did you see her? Ann, how is she better than me?”

Ann laughed. “You’ll just have to get over it. You're no longer the strongest in the group, my love.”

“Oh,” Haru said suddenly. She had a slightly concerned look on her face. “Oh no…”

“What?” Ann asked.

“I’ve never… seen Makoto… you know.” Haru blushed. “I didn’t even think about that…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiho said. “It’s not as hot as you might think. Plus, her sister is going to be there. It’ll just be really awkward.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Haru said. “Honestly, it kind of makes me feel worse. I don't want this to be ruined.”

“Well, just hope for the best,” Ren said. “Keep in mind that she’s in the same boat as you. You guys can ruin your experience together.” He shot her a smirk.

“I hate you,” Haru deadpanned. “So much.”

He laughed and scooted closer to her. He threw his arm around her neck and pulled her tight to him. “It’ll be fine. Promise.”

“Fine,” she said with a grunt. “We should eat dinner too.”

The boys went back to their own room to eat dinner while the girls ate in theirs. They rushed through it quickly and then made their way down to the hot springs. Haru had wanted to make it there before Sae and Makoto did. 

Futaba was skipping along ahead of them. This was the first time she’d ever been to a hot spring and she seemed to be very excited to get in one, even with her aversion to large groups of people. Haru couldn’t help but smile as she watched her. At least she was carefree.

Meanwhile, Haru was a bundle of nerves. Despite Ann and Shiho assuring her everything would be okay, she was having a hard time believing it. Everything seemed like it could go wrong.

They made it to the bath, got undressed, and headed into the hot spring. Haru helped Futaba get undressed and then cleaned up before going into the spring as she had no clue what she was doing. Futaba protested only a little bit saying she was a third-year high school student and she would be able to clean herself up. Haru didn’t argue with that one. 

Haru sunk into the spring. It felt wonderful over her tired body. She hadn’t realized just how worn out she was. She watched Ann sink in as well and could see the relief flood her face.

“So we just sit here?” Futaba asked. She already seemed antsy to leave.

“Yes,” Haru said. “We don’t have to stay in too long but just relax.”

“Relax?”

“Yes. Doesn’t the warm water feel nice?”

“I guess so. It’s just boring. What am I supposed to do while we sit here?”

“Nothing, Futaba-chan,” Haru chuckled. “You’re always so wound up. Just let your mind wander and think about nothing in particular.”

Futaba sighed and leaned back against the edge of the pool. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.” She only sat still for a few moments before scooting herself down the way towards Ann.

Haru leaned back and closed her eyes, trying not to worry about it. The water truly was amazing. She felt lighter and her head was clearer. It was almost like she had entered a dream and none of her problems were real. It was amazing.

The water beside her rippled as someone climbed in beside her. _If I open my eyes, it’s going to be Makoto_ , Haru thought to herself.

“Haru,” Shiho said beside her. So it wasn’t Makoto after all.

Haru looked over at the other girl. “What?”

Shiho nodded towards the entrance and Haru turned to look.

Makoto and Sae had just entered the bath, clearly caught up in some sort of conversation. Haru’s head snapped back to the water immediately before she could get a good look at either of them. “I don’t want to see her,” she mumbled.

“Fine, I’ll look for you,” Shiho said, leaning over the edge of the pool. “Makoto is fucking ripped as hell. You didn’t tell me she looked like that.”

“She is training to be on the police force. I assume it comes with the territory,” Haru said. She was staring firmly at the water. “I guess I never really thought about it.”

“Interesting. Well, she looks like she could kill me with her bare hands and that’s amazing.”

Haru laughed and pulled on Shiho’s arm. “You’re so weird. Now sit down and stop staring. Otherwise, I’ll make you take Futaba back to the room when she gets too antsy to sit anymore.”

“I’ll do that anyway,” Shiho said rolling her eyes and settling herself back in the water. “I don’t want Ann to stay in the spring too long because that won’t help her nausea.”

“Then enjoy what little time you have left.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Haru saw Makoto enter the spring beside her. She kept her eyes forward and only glanced over when Makoto was fully submerged in the water. Makoto had sat a little closer than Haru would’ve thought necessary but decided to not bring attention to it. Sae might think something was weird if she mentioned it.

Makoto stretched a bit before saying, “Hi, Haru.” She nodded at Shiho. “Shiho.”

“Hello, Makoto. How was your dinner?” Haru responded.

“Amazing,” Makoto said. She continued on talking as if she wasn’t in a hot spring next to her girlfriend with her older, very intimidating sister sitting right next to them.

Haru kept her eye on Sae for most of the time, trying to get a read on her. Her mind jumbled with thoughts that Sae could one day be her family. Would it be weird to have a sister? Haru had never had any siblings. Futaba was kind of like her little sister since she was the one who watched out for Futaba's well-being the most. It would be weird to have a sister who was so much older than her. Sae was so much more professional too. Haru could hire her into the business if she wanted. Or would that be nepotism? Haru’s head was starting to hurt.

“Haru,” Makoto said gently. Haru was snapped back to attention when Makoto touched her arm. “You should probably get out of the spring. I think you’re a little warm.”

Haru shook her head to clear her thoughts. Futaba, Ann, and Shiho were already gone. She hadn’t even seen them leave. Now that Makoto mentioned it, she did feel a little overheated. How long had she been zoned out like that?

“You’re probably right,” Haru mumbled. “Sorry… I zoned out for a minute there.”

Makoto smiled at her. “I’ll come by to say goodnight.” 

Haru nodded and climbed out of the spring. The air around her was chillier than she would’ve expected. She shuffled out into the changing area and pulled on her clothes. Just as she had finished getting dressed her mind caught up with her again. She’d gotten out of the spring in front of Makoto without even thinking about it. She quickly shuffled out of the changing room and back to girls’ room trying to get that image out of her head.

Without much fanfare, she collapsed into her bed. The other girls were still winding down, but the day had finally caught up with Haru. The bath had taken the rest of her fight out of her and now she just wanted to rest. She quickly drifted off to sleep and barely remembered Makoto coming in, kissing her on the cheek, and whispering goodnight in her ear.

The next morning, Haru was shaken awake by Futaba. “Haru,” Futaba whined. “Breakfast is being served. I’m the only one awake and Shiho and Ann are dead.”

Haru sat bolt upright, nearly knocking her head against Futaba’s. “Dead?!”

“I didn’t mean literally,” Futaba mumbled. “I just can’t get them awake. You know how they are.”

Haru rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to get them to focus on Futaba. Her heart was still fluttering from the mini fright she’d just had. “Right… Okay… We can go get breakfast.”

Slowly, she got up out of bed. Her whole body ached from a restless sleep and the recovery from the long journey out to the inn. She wasn’t used to sleeping without Makoto anymore. Whenever she spent the night alone she found that sleep was hard to come by. Futaba grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room before she could really gather herself.

The two ventured down the hall to the common area where breakfast was served. Already there were plenty of people bustling around. Haru spotted Sae sitting at a table in the corner by herself. After a quick glance over the room, she didn’t see Makoto. Sae must’ve woken up early and went to get breakfast by herself.

Haru pulled Futaba along to where Sae was sitting and sat her down at one of the seats. Haru sat down beside her and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment to Sae. Promptly, a waitress came by to tell them what was being served for breakfast that morning. Futaba asked for quite a bit while Haru stuck with coffee and some eggs. She wasn’t feeling up to a large breakfast.

“So, Haru,” Futaba said brightly, “I was playing this game on my phone last night that I thought you might like.” Futaba went to pull out her phone but Haru gently shook her head.

“No phones at the breakfast table today, okay? Enjoy your breakfast. You can still tell me about it, but show me later.”

Futaba sighed and made a disgruntled noise. She started to describe the game in as much detail as she possibly could. At least with her incessant talking, Haru didn’t have to try and keep conversation with Sae. Futaba was talking enough for all three of them.

Their breakfast arrived and that quieted Futaba considerably. Thankfully, Haru didn’t have to remind her of her manners at the table. She was eating pleasantly in front of Sae.

“How are you this morning, Niijima-san?” Haru asked, having a moment of silence from Futaba now.

“I’m well, thank you,” Sae responded. “How about yourself?”

“I’m a little on the tired side if I’m being honest. Was Makoto still asleep?”

Sae nodded slowly. “She seemed to be having a fitful sleep. I didn’t want to wake her too early.”

_She wasn’t the only one,_ Haru thought. “Did you two have plans today?”

“Not specifically. We can all go out and sightsee if you would like.”

“That sounds lovely.”

Haru saw the boys start to file in. Ryuji was sleepily hanging onto Ren as they walked. He must’ve been dragged out of bed. Yusuke took up the rear and was the only one to acknowledge Haru and Futaba sitting across the room. He tried to get the other boys’ attention but Ryuji had already fallen into a seat and didn’t seem like he was going to move any time soon.

“Those boys,” Sae said as she watched them. “Makoto introduced me yesterday. I believe it was Sakamoto-kun and Amamiya-kun. They are fairly close, yes?”

Haru nodded. “Very close.”

“Excuse me for asking you, but are they a couple?”

Haru blinked in surprise. Sae was more perceptive than she had originally thought. That was not a good thing. “Yes, they are.”

“And the other two girls with you as well?”

“Um… yes.”

“You two?” She gestured between Haru and Futaba.

“No, no,” Haru corrected quickly. Futaba seemed in just as much shock as she felt. “We’re just really close friends. I do have a girlfriend, however.”

“Haru’s like my mom or my older sister,” Futaba added. “She just helps take care of me the most.”

“Ah,” Sae said. “Well, it’s nice to know Makoto has friends like her.”

“Pardon me,” Haru said. “What do you mean?” 

Sae paused for a moment. “Friends her own age,” she said casually. “She has never had such a large group of friends.”

Haru nodded. “Of course.” Even if that’s what Sae had meant it was not what it sounded like she said. It almost sounded like she had meant it was nice that Makoto had found other gay people to hang around with.

Breakfast ended unceremoniously with Makoto never showing her face. Neither did Ann or Shiho, but Haru was less surprised by that. Neither of them were morning people and they tended to sleep like rocks. They’d be up in the next half hour if she had to guess. She was a little more concerned about not seeing Makoto, however.

Haru was dragged back to the girls’ room by Futaba. Inside, Ann and Shiho were cuddling in what was Shiho’s bed. They were tucked under the covers, Shiho’s arms tightly wrapped around Ann.

“Up and at ‘em girls,” Haru said. She shuffled over to them and gently nudged Shiho with her foot. “You already missed breakfast.”

“Don’t wanna,” Ann mumbled. “Shiho soft…”

Haru rolled her eyes. “If I don’t get to cuddle my girlfriend, neither do you. Get dressed and find something to eat. We’re going sightseeing with everyone.”

After another hour, the girls were ready to go. The entire group left the inn and started out towards town. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t hold up like they had been hoping. As soon as they got into town it started to rain. It wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone, as the forecast had called for rain. However, they were hoping to get lucky.

They started their journey around town under umbrellas. Haru paired up with Makoto under one as they walked. Beside her, Ren and Ryuji walked under their own umbrella. Just ahead were Ann and Shiho. Behind were Yusuke and Futaba. Leading the pack, Sae charged on ahead. There wasn’t much to see as far as the town was concerned but there were several restaurants that the local guide papers told them about as well as a couple of shrines to visit.

“Looks like the town has a challenge where you can eat a lot of food on rainy days,” Haru said to Ren as they walked around. “Sounds like you and Shiho are going to be doing that.”

Shiho turned around at the sound of her name. She started walking backward now, Ann struggling to keep the umbrella over them both. Ren high-fived her. “Let’s stuff our faces until we die,” she said giddily.

“Maybe don’t die,” Ann said. “But I’ll allow until you pass out.”

“Can I take on the challenge too?” Makoto asked.

Haru glanced over at her. “These two are really starting to be a bad influence on you, aren’t they?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re bad,” Ren said with a shrug. “We’re just making Makoto more fun.” He smirked.

Haru rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I’m trusting her to you guys. If you do dumb things, you better bring her back safely.”

“We wouldn’t dream of hurting her,” Shiho said. 

They continued on their way, eventually stopping by the restaurant that sold the challenge beef bowl. It was a quaint little place, which must’ve been why Sae agreed to eat lunch there with all of them. The inside wasn’t very large but it reminded Haru of Leblanc a little bit. This was clearly owned by a family who lived in the area and run as such.

They were all seated at a large table near the back and their orders were taken. Makoto, Shiho, and Ren all ordered the rainy day beef bowl challenge. The rest of them ordered modest meals, except Futaba who seemed to be able to eat her own weight in food every meal she ate. Haru had discouraged her from taking on the beef bowl challenge, but she ordered about enough food to cost about the same.

Haru watched in horror as the three giant beef bowls were served to the table. Every one of their faces held a look of shock and awe. This was not what they had expected. 

“Let’s eat,” Sae said in a manner that suggested she was not impressed at what antics they were about to get into.

The rest of the group copied her and started to dig into their meals, the three fiends with less enthusiasm than the rest.

Haru finished her meal and felt plenty full on her own. She looked over and saw Makoto looking like she was about to throw up. Shiho and Ren did not appear to be doing any better than she was. Futaba had finished almost everything on her plates. She was mopping up the last bit of sauce with a hunk of bread. Maybe she would've been able to eat the entire bowl. Haru couldn't fathom where all that food went inside such a tiny girl.

“I might have to tap out,” Shiho mumbled as she leaned into Ann. 

Ren shook his head. “Yeah me too. Not if I want to be able to walk back.”

Makoto looked at Haru. “My stomach feels ready to burst. And I didn’t even reach the rice…” With that said, Haru could tell she’d done the best out of all of them. Haru kept that information to herself, however. She didn’t want Makoto getting a big head over something so stupid.

"You guys are lame," Futaba taunted. "It's unfortunate that food went to waste on you."

After the restaurant, they headed back to the inn and spent the rest of the night indoors. With the rain and with three members of the party eating themselves sick, there wasn’t much else to be done. Makoto spent most of her evening with her sister. They all took dinner in their rooms again. The hot spring back was much shorter for most of them as they wanted to head off to bed.

Sae allowed Makoto to spend the night with the girls and curled up on Haru’s bed with her. The two chatted quietly late into the night, enjoying each other's company in such close quarters. They snuck a few kisses to each other, hoping the others wouldn't notice. That night was a lot more restful.

The next day passed by similarly. The rain had let up somewhat and they had gone out into town again. They stopped by several shops and bought souvenirs of their journey. They paid respects at the local shrine and spent the afternoon in a local park.

It was lovely, but Haru still hadn’t heard Makoto tell her sister that they were dating. Sae already knew most of the group was in relationships with each other already. It’s not like it would’ve mattered that much. Sae hadn’t said anything either but there was no way she hadn’t taken note of the special treatment that Makoto was giving her. Makoto couldn’t help but pay more attention to Haru. It was ingrained at this point.

It was the end of the night now and Haru was sitting in the hot spring. Shiho, Ann, and Futaba had already gone back to the room. She just wanted to relax for a moment longer.

Suddenly, Sae slipped into the water beside her. “Good evening,” she greeted softly.

“Good evening,” Haru responded pleasantly. “Where’s Makoto?”

“She didn’t feel like a bath tonight so she stayed back in the room. I was hoping to catch you here. I wanted to have a word with you.”

Haru’s stomach dropped. What could Sae possibly want with her? “Of course, Sae-san. What can I do for you?”

“It’s about Makoto,” Sae said in a somewhat serious tone. “I’ve noticed she’s been favoring you when you’ve been spending time together.”

Haru blushed. She quietly thanked the hot spring for making her face already red. Her heart was pounding and she hoped that Sae couldn’t tell how nervous she was. “Ren and I were the first ones to befriend her. You see everyone in the group is Ren and I’s friend. When we first befriended Makoto, we introduced her to them.”

“Of course,” Sae said with a short nod. “I would also think she would pay as much attention to Ren if that was true, however.”

“Well, it is true," Haru insisted. "Perhaps she just prefers me though. I am a lot more reserved than Ren is. I can’t say for certain.” 

Sae paused for a moment then attacked from a different angle. “You said you had a girlfriend. I haven’t heard you talk about her. What is she like?”

“Oh, um… you know… She’s very kind and very smart. She likes coffee and—”

“What does she look like?”

“A-About average height. Long black hair. Dark brown eyes…”

“Is she a part of your friend group?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Why wasn’t she invited on the trip?”

Haru swallowed hard. She was starting to sweat. She wasn't sure if she could keep this up much longer. “O-Oh, well, she was busy this week and couldn’t take the time off work to leave for four days.”

“If I asked Makoto about her, she’d have all the same exact answers as you? If I asked any of your friends really.”

Haru’s mouth fell open in shock. Sae had really put her in a bind. There was no way any of them would know what she’d just said. They hadn’t even discussed this possibility. Well, there was a reason that Sae was a great public prosecutor. Now Haru was left with two options. She could lie and have Sae ask everyone about it. Or she could tell the truth and risk Makoto being mad at her.

“No they wouldn’t,” Haru said softly.

“I figured as much,” Sae said. “So my guess is that you are Makoto’s girlfriend and she is yours. Is that correct?”

“Yes…”

Sae smiled at Haru. “I’m not mad at either of you.”

Haru looked over at Sae, a worried expression still on her face. “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” Sae said. “I have thought that Makoto was a lesbian for a while now. She has never shown any interest in men, which is fine of course. I’ve also just observed some things over the years. She thinks I don’t pay attention to her, but I keep my eye on her. Not in an invasive way, of course.”

“Is that why you said you were happy she found friends like her?” Haru asked.

“Indeed. I feel as though she’s never been fully able to accept herself. She has never pursued any relationships that I’m aware of. She’s also never even tried to tell me… I figured some of that was due to the resentment she feels towards me for how distant I am.”

“I feel like Makoto respects you more than you think.”

“No, no. This isn’t about me so you don’t have to make me feel better. Either way, with friends like you I’m sure she’ll come to love herself more. I am also happy that she is in a relationship with a lovely girl. One who is dedicated enough to lie to her sister even when it’s not beneficial to either of you.”

Haru gave Sae an awkward smile. 

“You two have my blessings. I also won’t tell Makoto we had this chat. She can come out to me in her own time. I just wanted the peace of mind that I was right. But maybe if you could gently coax her, we won’t have such awkward vacations in the future.”

Tears had sprung to Haru’s eyes, although she wasn’t sure exactly why. She put her arm gently around Sae and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Sae-san,” she said, her voice a little choked up.

Sae laughed. “Perhaps we should both head back now. We’ll have to get ready to leave in the morning.”

Haru nodded and pulled away from her. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “You’re right. Thank you, again.”

The two of them climbed out of the hot spring and headed back to their rooms. Haru was feeling light as a feather now. She was extremely happy to have Sae’s blessing on their relationship. It almost felt unreal. As she tucked herself away into bed, her head buzzed with thoughts of her and Makoto’s future together.

The next morning they all checked out of the inn. Their trip back was pleasant and calm. Makoto still hadn’t told Sae about their relationship, but Haru assured her that it was all alright. She hadn’t wanted to pressure Makoto into telling Sae about them in the first place, especially if she wasn't ready. She mentioned to Makoto in private that she could tell Sae when she was ready as long as it was before they started to get very serious. Makoto agreed to those conditions.

On the train ride home, Haru sat beside Makoto on the train with Sae across from them. She gently rested her head on Makoto’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“Haru?” Makoto asked in almost a whisper.

“I’m just tired,” Haru responded. “Don’t worry about it.”

Makoto nodded. “Alright then…”

Haru settled in for the long ride home. She felt content with everything. She couldn’t wait to get home and have Makoto all to herself though. Man oh man was she going to plant as many kisses as she possibly could on Makoto. It was going to be magnificent.


	8. House and Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy the chapter!  
> it'll probably be a little bit before anything new pops up~

Haru was lying on the floor with her head in Makoto’s lap. Makoto’s free hand was gently brushing through Haru’s hair while the other held a book open on the table. She wasn’t particularly reading the book anymore as Haru and her soft hair had absorbed most of her attention. Focusing on something else other than Haru was always hard, especially when she looked so peaceful sitting there. Haru had her eyes closed and wasn’t moving much since the day was too hot to do much else other than lie completely still.

It was hot outside; the cicadas were chirping loudly outside Makoto’s open window. Summer vacation was just about to come to an end for the two and they were trying to spend what little free time they had left with each other. They had had a lot of fun over the all too short summer break.

After the short trip to the hot springs, the two had taken their own little trip to visit what Makoto would describe as a summer home and what Haru described as a cottage. The house was farther north and sat on a small lake with several other properties. It had about five separate bedrooms, all made up with beds and dressers that had never been lived in. There was a pool for some reason, but Makoto couldn’t figure out why there would be one with a lake right beside it. Probably the most impressive feature was the garden that spanned most of the backyard. Haru had tended to it while they were out there and Makoto learned that Haru was very much into gardening. 

Makoto was a little on edge about how nice the house was. She could barely afford to live in her apartment, let alone afford not one but two homes. Of course, Haru explained that the house belonged to her parents and not to her specifically. In fact, she hadn’t even told them that the girls would be heading out to the house. She’d just made sure that they wouldn’t be there. Haru had also added that she wasn’t even sure she would inherit this house or the other one. In reality, it was almost like they were squatting without anybody knowing about it.

However, it was nice for them to play house together in what was a real home and not Makoto’s single room apartment. As much as they loved each other, being in the same room at all times was draining for both of them. There was no space for them to stretch out and be alone if they needed it. Plus, it was nice to sleep on a bed that could actually fit two people instead of Makoto’s tiny bed. 

“Let’s live together somewhere that’s not your apartment,” Haru had said as the two girls sat out on the patio in the garden. She was wearing a pair of large sunglasses and a large sun hat. Makoto felt that it was very fitting for Haru’s aesthetic. “We can look for a place.”

Makoto seemed taken aback by the statement. “W-wait… How are we going to afford that?” she had responded. 

“Well…” Haru took a sip of the drink she had in her hand and looked away.

Makoto shook her head quickly. “No, no, no. You’re not paying for the whole thing. I don’t want to be… a burden on you or anything.”

“We can look for cheap places,” Haru conceded quickly. “Anything that’s bigger than your dorm.”

“… Fine…”

Haru rolled off of Makoto’s lap now and stared at the ceiling. Thinking about that conversation made her feel weird inside, mostly because they hadn’t made much progress on the looking for a house front. Makoto leaned over her and flashed a bright smile. Haru reached up her hands and cupped Makoto’s face. “I’m mad at you,” Haru said in a not-too-serious tone.

Makoto tilted her head as much as she could with Haru cupping her face. She looked confused. “Mad at me? We haven’t been doing anything. We’ve just been sitting in silence.”  
Haru made a pouty face. “You haven’t put any effort into looking for a place to live.”

Makoto pulled away and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “Well… It’s not like it’s easy to move out...”

Haru sat up now and looked Makoto dead in the eyes. “But we need a new place to live. It’s suffocating here.”

“You don’t have to live here you know,” Makoto said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You could go home.”

Haru let out a short laugh. “My house is worse than this place if you can believe it… Besides, my home is with you.” She smiled up at Makoto now. “I am just in the mindset that our home shouldn’t be a one-room apartment anymore when we could live someplace else. Anyplace else in reality.”

Makoto sighed heavily. “I’m trying my best, okay? I just don’t want you paying for the whole thing. If I can’t afford it and end up getting stuck there by myself, then what happens?”

“I wouldn’t abandon you like that,” Haru said gently. “Even if this doesn’t continue, I wouldn’t leave you in the dirt. I’d like to think I’m a little bit better of a person than that.”

Haru gently touched Makoto’s leg. She knew where the other girl was coming from. Moving into this apartment was her first taste of freedom away from Sae. To give up that freedom and independence, even to her own girlfriend, was definitely an internal struggle for her. She didn’t want to have to be dependent on Haru and have her whole life revolve around whether or not Haru liked her. She wanted to be her own person. Haru could appreciate that.

“I’m sorry… But… I haven’t done nothing either,” Makoto mumbled. “There’s an older couple in Yongen-Jaya who I believe will be selling their place soon.”

“What?” Haru leaned forward a bit, curiosity lighting up her face.

“Ren told me about it the other day.”

Haru frowned. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I asked him not to,” Makoto admitted awkwardly. “I wanted to look into it myself before you got involved. It might be… perfect.”

“Is it a done deal?"

“Not yet. I’ve actually talked to the couple. They’re going to need a few more weeks to decide what they’re doing.”

“Makoto, I love you so much.” Haru threw her arms around Makoto’s neck and practically tackled her to the floor. 

Makoto laughed. “Let’s go get something to eat. I can’t sit in this apartment anymore.”

\--

Makoto entered the restaurant that she and Shiho had agreed to meet at. It was a week after her conversation with Haru and Makoto wanted advice from Shiho. Makoto spotted Shiho sitting down at a table with food already in front of her. She made her way over and awkwardly slipped into the chair opposite the other girl.

Shiho looked up from her plate and nodded at Makoto. It was rare to see her without her other half. Everything about her seemed a little different. Probably because she seemed more attentive to Makoto for once. Without the constant distraction of keeping one eye on Ann, Shiho was able to focus all of her attention onto Makoto. It was weird but somehow comforting at the same time. 

“So what did you need?” Shiho asked with a bright smile. Makoto thought she had one of the most genuinely lovely smiles there was to have. It was definitely one that shown from deep within her. And one that came out from overcoming some hardship, but Makoto hadn’t learned what that was.

“Ann’s… rich, right?” Makoto said, deciding to just cut to the chase.

Shiho looked a little awkward like she didn’t quite want to answer that question. “Well, not like… crazy rich or anything. She’s well off, I’d say.”

“Does she want to buy you stuff all the time?”

“Not all the time but she does offer to pay for meals and things often.” Shiho shrugged. “A lot of the money she does spend on stuff is just money she makes from her job, though. It’s not…” Shiho made an awkward gesture with her hands as she tried to think of what to say next. “It’s not like a huge deal.”

“So you just let her pay for things for you? If she wants to do it that is.”

“Um…well, yeah. I mean if she’s offering I don’t really see too much of a problem with it.”

“But what if you were to become too dependent on her and she broke up with you? Or I suppose you broke up with her. That part really doesn’t matter as much as the dependency thing.”

“Well, you see… Ann shows her love by making sure that I have everything I need to be happy. Clothes, food, a roof over my head, and making sure that I’m just in general okay. If I didn’t let her buy me things sometimes then she would probably go crazy. I don’t let her overdo it, but I can’t stop her outright. She wants me to be happy. If she has the ability to do so through monetary means, she will.”

Makoto paused for a moment getting hung up on one point in Shiho’s words. “She puts a roof over your head?”

Shiho nodded. “We live together and she pays most of the rent.”

Makoto was on the edge of her seat. Doing that seemed so reckless and thoughtless to her. “You let her? What if you broke up, though?”

“Well, I guess we’d have to figure out what to do after that. But either we could just live as roommates for a bit until we found other living situations or move back in with our parents.” Shiho shrugged. “You seem really hung up on the idea of us breaking up, though. Do you need to tell me something?”

“No, no!” Makoto shook her head quickly. “It’s nothing like that. I worry about things like that for practical purposes.”

Shiho leaned forward a bit on the table. “Are these questions about how you don’t want to move in with Haru then?”

Makoto blanched. “It’s not that I don’t. I just don’t want her to pay for everything… I don’t want to be dependent on her.”

“I don’t think allowing her to pay for things is being dependent on her. I’m sure that Haru just wants you both to be happy. Living in a bigger space really makes that happen.”

“… You’re probably right… I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t think too much about it,” Shiho said leaning back again. She started to eat once more signaling that the serious part of this conversation was over. “It is what it is at the end of the day and it’ll probably work itself out.”

After another hour hanging out with Shiho and talking about less intensive subjects, the two girls went their separate ways. Makoto was even more confused about what to do now than she was before. She really wanted to move in with Haru. Shiho seemed to think it would be a good idea no matter what. Makoto just couldn’t shake the idea that somewhere down the line she’d be left out in the cold from this. Perhaps that was just her personal folly. Perhaps she would just have to bite the bullet and swallow her pride. Her stomach churned. She was going to need more time to think.

\--

Makoto sat on the couch of Sae’s apartment. Summer break had ended and Makoto was back to working on this and that for her sister. At the current moment, she was just typing up notes that Sae had hand-written and left about. It had taken her a while to just find them all and put them in some sort of order. Makoto seemed much better at organizing Sae’s thoughts than Sae was and was often left the task of reading and organizing these notes.

Sae had just made tea and set a cup down on the coffee table that Makoto had her feet up on. With her own cup in hand, she took a seat beside Makoto, curling her legs up on the couch. She ran a hand through Makoto’s messy hair.

Makoto barely glanced up from her laptop as she tried to decipher a particularly bad case of handwriting. “Hey,” she muttered.

“Makoto,” Sae said softly, “can you talk to me for a minute?”

Makoto’s eyes drifted up from the laptop to meet Sae’s. Apparently, it was time for them to have a heart to heart. When Makoto was still a teenager these things happened sometimes, but back then Sae was much more wound up about things. Normally they only happened when Sae had gotten mad at her for one reason or another and needed to apologize. Once Makoto moved out their relationship had truly turned into a very loving and sisterly relationship. Now, these talks generally consisted of them sharing about things going on in their lives.

“Are you roping me into having dinner with you?” Makoto asked in a jokingly suspicious manner. “Making me talk to you now so I have to work later to finish all your notes.”

Sae laughed and flipped her hair over her shoulder overdramatically. “I would never. I won’t say no to you staying for dinner though.”

Makoto chuckled and set the laptop aside. She plucked her tea off of the table and sat back, curling up underneath Sae’s arm that was draped over the back of the couch.

“How have you been?” Sae asked once Makoto was settled. “You seem to always be in such a pleasant mood nowadays. Even on our vacation, you seemed so happy. We’ve taken so many vacations but I’ve never seen you quite like that.”

“I guess I’ve never had friends like all of them before,” Makoto said quietly as if she didn’t want to admit to it. “They… bring a lot of joy to my life.”

“I’m happy to hear that. Truly, I love that you’re in a good place in your life. Never forget that I love you too.”

Makoto snuggled closer into Sae. Her heart had begun to beat faster. She could say it. She could come out to Sae right then and there. She’d have to eventually. Like Haru had said, if they wanted to move their relationship along, Sae was going to have to find out sooner or later. She swallowed hard.

“If you don’t find this too personal, how is your love life going?” Sae asked as she ran a hand through Makoto’s hair.

Makoto tried not to visibly tense. She knew her sister was perceptive but could she actually read minds? No. No. That would be silly. She was just asking. Older sisters ask those sorts of questions.

“You know, that boy… Amamiya-kun, I believe it was… He seems like he would make a nice boyfriend.”

Makoto laughed harder than she intended which was met with a confused look from Sae. “Sorry. Sorry. It’s just that he is a nice boyfriend. He’s not my nice boyfriend though.”

“Oh of course,” Sae said shaking her head. “I forgot that he’s in a relationship with that other boy.”

Now it was Makoto’s turn to look confused. “You know about him and Ryuji?”

“Well, we did spend four days together with them. It wasn’t that hard to put the pieces together. The same goes for those other two girls… Uhh…”

“Ann and Shiho?”

“Yes. Them. They are clearly a couple.”

Makoto took a long sip of her tea trying to think of what to say next. How had she not realized that her sister would figure out that there were at least two couples in their group? It’s not like it was hard. All four of them were constantly all over their significant others. It wasn’t like they were very secretive. Her mind was whirling about how she and Haru had acted on the trip. Were they as easy to spot? Had Sae already figured everything out?

“… Were you okay with them being couples?” Makoto asked quietly. 

Sae smiled gently. “As long as they’re happy, I think that’s really all that matters. If they’re your friends, I want to see them just as happy as I want to see you.”

Makoto’s hands had started to tremble. “So… would you be okay if I… was in a relationship with a girl?”

Sae’s arm that was behind Makoto closed around her tighter. She planted a kiss on top of Makoto’s head. “As long as she treats you right and makes you happy, I don’t mind.”

Several tears rolled involuntarily down Makoto’s cheeks. “S-Sis… I…” 

Sae set her tea down on the coffee table. She pulled Makoto closer into a tight hug and rubbed Makoto’s back gently. Tears started to flow freely from Makoto now from the unexpected gesture. “I know that I haven’t always been the best sister to you,” Sae said gently. “I know I can’t make up for what I’ve done and said that may make you resent me. However, please know that I will never stop loving you no matter what. You are my baby sister after all. I practically raised you. I love you so much.”

“I-I love… you too,” Makoto choked out. “I’m-I’m glad you don’t ha-ate me for this.”

“I could never hate you.” Sae held Makoto tighter trying to calm her down. “Perhaps you’d like to tell me about this girl in your life.”

Makoto looked up at Sae with wide eyes. She wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Ah… Aha… You’ve met her already.”

“Is that so?”

Makoto nodded. “Y-Yeah… Um… Haru Okumura…” 

Sae looked surprised. “The girl on the trip with us? The one with the light hair?”

“Yeah… We-We’ve actually been dating for… a while now… She pretty much lives with me… Just not like officially.” Makoto had calmed down a little bit now, her voice becoming less shaky. She’d pulled away from Sae a little bit to look at her sister better.

“At your apartment?” Sae asked in a more serious tone than Makoto had been expecting.

“Y-Yeah?”

“Isn’t it a little small for the two of you?”

Makoto laughed softly. “That’s what Haru keeps saying. She wants to move out…”

“Well, I fully support that if that’s what you want to do.”

Makoto looked away awkwardly. “I do… It’s just that… Haru has a lot of money. She can pay for and buy anything she wants. I don’t want to be dependent on her. I don’t want her to buy everything for me. I want to also be able to live my life separate from her. I don’t want us to be so meshed together we can’t break apart. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just overthinking it.”

Sae grabbed Makoto by the shoulders and looked at her with a deadly serious look that Makoto really only saw when Sae was in a courtroom. “Makoto, I will personally pay for you two to move out of that apartment. I can only imagine it’s like a cage in there right now. You’re also not the cleanest person to live with. I’ve seen your bedroom. And if the whole house is your bedroom, it can’t be a good thing.”

Makoto was somewhat shocked by her sister’s words. She felt like she was underwater gasping for breath under her sister’s intense gaze. “Well… I, uh… We’ve been looking at a place in Yongen-Jaya.”

Sae nodded. “Do it. I will help.”

“What?”

“Move in together, please. I don’t want you to suffer in a tiny apartment. For the sake of your relationship, please move out.”

“O-Oh… Um… Sis…” Makoto felt like she was losing ground on this quickly. It was less of her falling down a slope and more of her sister sweeping the rug right out from under her. She hadn’t wanted Sae to come into this. She’d only told Sae she was dating a girl about two minutes ago. This was going faster than her brain could truly process.

“Makoto, don’t fight me on this. I’ve given you your freedom but I won’t budge on this front. You’re moving out of that apartment and into a new place with your girlfriend.”

“G-Girlfriend?!”

“Is that not what she is to you?”

“W-Well, yeah she is…. I just didn’t think you’d say it… out loud like that.” Makoto was floundering now. Sae had just taken her down in an all-out attack. 

“Call her up and tell her that you’re moving in together in the place in Yongen-Jaya.”

“O-Okay.”

Makoto slid off of the couch deftly and shuffled off towards the bathroom. Once inside she gripped the sink and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. She counted to three and then looked at herself in the mirror. She looked frazzled even to herself. Either way, she wasn’t getting out of calling Haru. She slid her phone out of her pocket and called her.

Haru picked up on the third ring. “Hello, Mako-chan! I thought you were with your sister this afternoon. I wasn’t expecting a call. I’m with Ann getting our nails done.”

“O-Oh. A-Are you busy then?” Makoto asked. Her voice was still shaking even though she’d tried to calm herself down.

“Not at all. What’s wrong? Is there a problem with your sister?”

Of course, she wasn’t going to be able to hide her nervousness from Haru. That would’ve been a miracle if she could. “Nothing bad… I told my sister about us…”

“What?!” Haru exclaimed. “How did it go?”

“Fine. She’s fine. Um… she wants us to buy that place in Yongen-Jaya.”

“You said you didn’t want to because you couldn’t afford it.”

“She says she’ll pitch in.”

“Makoto, what?”

“She wants us to move out of my apartment. She says it’s like a cage… She said it’s for the sake of our relationship. She’s not budging on it. What should I do?”

“Take the offer? I mean… we do need to move out. We can talk to her later about it, but if she’s not going to budge on it now then we probably have to do it. Sae isn’t one to give up on things like that.”

“I know but if my sister pays for it…”

“Makoto, just let her do this for you. I think it’s her way of apologizing for some things. If she just chips in a little bit to help us pay in the beginning, then everything will be fine. It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“Okay… Then I guess we have a place to live.”

“I guess we do.” Makoto could hear the smile in Haru’s voice as she said that.

“Okay. I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Haru hung up first and Makoto exited the bathroom and returned to the living room. Her head was still swirling with everything. She plopped down on the couch and picked up her laptop to return to writing things down.

“So is it a done deal?” Sae asked making no move to stop Makoto from getting back to work. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Makoto said blankly.

Sae ruffled Makoto’s hair and smiled. “I’m glad I could help.”

\--

All in all the move-in didn’t take that long. Makoto didn't have that much stuff to move in, just what was in her old apartment. Haru, on the other hand, had brought in quite a lot of things from her old house. By the time everything was put away, the new apartment looked like an actual home.

The new apartment had two bedrooms, a full bathroom, a full kitchen, and a living room. It was double the space of Makoto’s apartment. They turned one of the bedrooms into a study and the other they fitted with a much larger bed for the two to share.   
  
The actual moving in process was a whole affair with everybody from the gang coming to pitch in. Even Sae helped them move in, which Makoto wasn't expecting. She'd shown up in comfortable clothes and helped move around boxes and unpack everything. It was a wonderful experience that Makoto hadn't.

After they’d moved everything in they were all sitting at the low table in the living room eating takeout Chinese. It had been Makoto and Haru's treat to say thank you for all the help that everyone had put into turning their new apartment into their home. Everyone dug in as soon as the food arrived. As usual, antics around the table began to ensue.

“Check this shit out,” Shiho said as she tossed a fortune cookie into the air and caught it in her mouth. She proceeded to chew it.

“There’s still paper in there you know,” Ann said just as Shiho started to pull the paper out of her mouth. “God.”

“Do it with a whole eggroll and then I’ll be impressed,” Ren said. He held up an eggroll as if he was going to try and then dunked it in his mouth.

“Bastard,” Shiho muttered. “You had me going.”

“Sae-san,” Haru said with a smile, “thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help us.”

Sae shook her head. “Anything for Makoto. Honestly, it’s a pleasure to spend time around youth. I’m not as young as I once was and being around you brings some fresh energy to me.”

“How old are you anyway?” Futaba asked. “Fifty?”

Ren shoved Futaba. “Don’t be rude,” he said shaking his head.

“I was just asking!” Futaba protested.

Sae looked a little put out. She sat back a little and looked thoughtful. “You think I’m that old?”

“Your hair is grey, sis,” Makoto said with a chuckle.

“That’s hardly a reason to think I’m that old,” Sae said dejectedly. “If you must know, I’m thirty-four.”

“You’re not even that old,” Futaba said. “That’s like… a mom or something.”

“Do you have any kids, Sae-san?” Ann asked.

“No, I don’t. I’ve already raised one child.” She gave a side-eyed look at Makoto.

“That’s not my fault,” Makoto said. “What do you want from me?”

“I’m only joking," Sae said putting her arm around Makoto now.

Dinner went on in the same vein of humor and conversation. Eventually, everything was cleaned up and put away. Everyone went on their way back to their homes and Makoto and Haru climbed into their new bed. Haru snuggled close to Makoto and gave her a kiss.

"I love you," Makoto whispered to her. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I love you too," Haru whispered back. "Today was amazing. You're wonderful. I hope you have a good night's rest."

Makoto smiled and settled back. Haru scooted away from her just a little bit to her own side of the bed. Makoto closed her eyes. She couldn't believe things had turned out so well. She couldn't believe that she was living this sort of life. Things would be okay for her. Definitely.

 


	9. If It Makes You Happy (please read beginning notes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello and welcome back. it's been a little while. ive been working on this off and on whilst recovering.  
> so if you've been following this fic you'll notice that the rating has taken a bump up! this chapter deals a lot more with adult topics and not in a cheesy sort of way. and from here on out that may continue. i don't believe that this deserves an explicit rating and i don't know if it ever will. but if it does, it'll get bumped up again. however, i do plan on noting which chapters have to do with the rating being the level it is in the title. so if this chapter didn't already have a note in the title it would have (M) beside it. everything not marked should be assumed as general. this way if you do not wish to read chapters that are either mature or explicit you can skip them.  
> more than likely you will not miss any heavy plot elements as this is an episodic work and the chapters are only loosely related to one another.
> 
> all that being said, i chose not to put archive warnings on this fic because i don't think that it really needs them. i will however note now that this chapter deals with some heavier topics.  
> so please, trigger warning for implied rape in this chapter. nothing is explicitly mentioned, however it is heavily implied.
> 
> in future, if certain sensitive material comes up, there will always be a note at the top of the chapter to inform you of that before you read.
> 
> as always i hope you enjoy. the next chapter should be back to your regularly scheduled fluff pieces whenever that goes up!

“Makoto!” Haru called into the bedroom. “Makoto, hurry up or we’re going to be late!” She shut the bedroom door and muttered under her breath, “But are we really ever on time for anything?”

One of Haru’s biggest pet peeves about Makoto was that she wasn’t always the most punctual when it came to events that didn’t involve actual consequences. Makoto always made it to class on time. She always arrived early for any business meetings she attended for school or for her sister. However, whenever they had a bus or train to catch so they could hang out with their friends or get dinner, Makoto couldn’t be bothered to get ready on time. They were almost always the last to show up to things.

That would probably be the case tonight. The dinner party that Ren was throwing at Leblanc had started five minutes ago. Haru didn’t know why Ren was throwing a dinner party of all things in his room, but she couldn’t turn him down when he asked her to come. What she hadn’t accounted for was that Ren had wanted them to dress up somewhat nice. Haru and Makoto had spent the last two hours picking out clothes to wear and doing their hair and makeup. Haru had chosen to wear a simple, pink high-low dress with a small belt tied around her waist and ballet flats. She hadn’t done much to her hair besides taming her curls a bit and making them look a little more deliberate. She’d also chosen to go light on the makeup knowing full well she wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time taking it off later, especially if the party ran late.

Haru had wanted to be at Leblanc by now or at the very least on their way to Leblanc. It was going to take them at least ten minutes to walk there. Makoto would hopefully be ready in five minutes. That would make them twenty minutes late in total. Haru sighed. The rest of the group was probably taking bets on how late she and Makoto would be. Haru started back towards the living room, deciding that waiting in there would be better than standing around in the hallway.

Before she could make it all the way back down the hall, she heard the bedroom door open. Makoto’s footsteps were light and quick and she caught Haru’s wrist in a matter of seconds. She turned Haru roughly and pressed her against the wall, leaning in close.

Haru’s breath caught, half from the surprise and half from being knocked against the wall with slight force. She looked at Makoto with wide eyes. Her heart began to beat harder. For once, Makoto had taken the time to put on makeup and do her hair. Her hair was slightly slicked back and had been given plenty of hairspray to hold in artificial waves and curls. Her makeup was simple yet very elegant. It almost reminded Haru of something Sae would wear to a hearing. Makoto looked stunning and it practically took Haru’s breath away.

Before Haru could think of how to respond, Makoto’s lips pressed against hers in a deep kiss, dragging Haru in. Makoto’s hand came up to cup Haru’s face while the other one snaked around her waist to pull her tighter. The wall was cold against her back but Makoto was so warm and imposing pressing against her roughly. Haru could barely breathe. She let out a noise halfway between a moan and a squeak of surprise.

Makoto pulled away and laughed quietly. “What was that?”

“You surprised me,” Haru breathed. She was still having a little bit of trouble catching her breath which was odd. “I wasn’t expecting…” Her words fell off as she glanced downward at Makoto’s incredibly revealing top. It wasn’t showing anything explicitly, but there was a lot more cleavage than Haru was used to, which was next to nothing. It wasn’t what Haru would’ve expected from Makoto, but it was a party between close friends. Makoto probably wanted to look nice. Although, she was also wearing tight black jeans with rips in the knees.

“My eyes are up here,” Makoto said in a sexy purr. She tilted Haru’s head back up and kissed her again. 

It was hard for Haru to think straight. Makoto was unwavering in her kiss and leaving no room for Haru to form any sort of coherent thought. It wasn’t only that too. It seemed Haru’s brain had become hyper-aware of every part of Makoto touching her and that was the only thing it could scream about. Their chests were pressed together and Haru thought for a brief moment that Makoto could feel her erratic heartbeat. Makoto’s strong arm was wrapped around her, her hand resting vaguely in the realm of Haru’s butt and nearly lifting her off the ground—Haru was standing on her toes to touch. Makoto’s other hand was still cupping her face. Her fingers felt rough. One of Makoto’s legs was in between Haru’s, keeping her pinned to the wall in a more than suggestive manner.

Haru had never been in this position with Makoto before. Makoto never really initiated anything, much less anything this sexual in nature. It seemed sudden and out of nowhere. Was she looking to have sex that evening? If so, what prompted that? Was she expecting Haru to go along with it? Haru didn’t even know if she could. 

Makoto again broke the kiss, letting her mouth fall to Haru’s neck. “Should we get going?” she whispered, her breath hitting Haru’s skin and making Haru shiver. There was a hint of not wanting to go in her voice as well as something deeper and more wanting than what Haru usually heard from her. Makoto’s lips pressed against Haru’s skin again. Haru’s fingers dug into Makoto’s shoulders, pushing her back slightly. A stab of fear hit Haru in the chest. 

“We-We…” Haru stammered. One of her hands balled into a fist and she dug her nails into her palm, trying to break the surface of the water she was under. She could barely contain the bubbling sense of panic that had gripped her suddenly. “We should go,” she finally managed to get out. 

Makoto pulled away from her making Haru land back on her feet and into reality with a solid thud. Almost immediately the panic eased off of her and she let out a small sigh. She could feel her pulse loudly in the palm of her hand.

Makoto gave her a playful smile, thinking the sigh was because they had to stop and not because Haru had finally caught her breath. “Maybe we should pick this up again later,” Makoto said with a wink.

“M-Maybe…” Haru braced her hands against Makoto’s shoulders. Her heartbeat was starting to even out again. She still felt slightly on edge but at least more normal. “But we need to hurry to Leblanc.”

The girls rushed down to Leblanc. Haru was thankful she’d chosen more sensible shoes and didn’t pick heels. She wasn’t sure how Makoto was fairing in her clunky combat boots but as Makoto had said, “I’m a lesbian and this is my look.” They walked as fast as they possibly could without running, holding hands as they went. Haru felt a pit in her stomach as they dashed through the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya. Something was tugging at the back of her mind that she needed to tell Makoto. It just didn’t seem like the right time or place to tell her. They ended up being only thirty minutes late to the party.

The shop bell tinkled when they entered. They nodded politely to the boss behind the counter before rushing up to Ren’s room. Of course, everybody was already there. Haru quickly surveyed the room and noticed everybody looked very nice. Even Futaba, who was almost impossible to get out of sweatpants, had put on a dress. Soft violin music was playing throughout the attic. All eyes fell on the two of them and then to the clock that hung on the wall.

Shiho and Ann cheered. “Thirty minutes!” they cried in unison.

Haru rolled her eyes and gently smacked Makoto in the stomach. “I told you they were taking bets.”

Makoto chuckled. “It’s fine. Let’s party.” She pecked Haru’s cheek and then started off to the work desk where Ren had drinks set up. Ren and Ryuji were over there talking casually as well. 

Haru smiled as she watched Makoto take a drink from Ren. Then she went and sat beside Ann on the sofa. Ann was nursing her own drink, although Haru was pretty sure none of the drinks would be alcoholic. Haru curled her legs up underneath herself and adjusted the skirt of her dress. She hooked her arm through Ann’s and leaned her head on Ann’s shoulder, cuddling up close to the other girl.

“Hey, babe,” Ann said as she patted Haru’s hand. “What’s on your mind?”

Haru leaned closer to Ann’s ear and whispered, “Makoto made a pretty bold move before we left home. It’s why we’re later than we thought we’d be. Well, one of the reasons anyway.”

Ann raised an eyebrow. “How bold?” she asked as if she’d just been let in on some juicy gossip.

“Well, she came out of the bedroom and pinned me against the wall in the hallway. I don't exaggerate when I say completely pinned. Her leg,”—Haru’s voice dropped even quieter—, “was between mine and she was practically lifting me off the floor. She only kissed me but… I think she would’ve preferred if we stayed in tonight to… do other things.” Haru felt her face flush and her heart fluttered again. The panic from earlier bubbled up again.

“Hmm,” Ann responded thoughtfully. “You’re both adults so if you’re fine with it and if she wants to then go for it tonight. She _is_ dressed to impress. I mean, if this was a singles party I might even hook up with her. I definitely saw Shiho give her a long look.”

Haru smacked Ann’s arm playfully making Ann laugh. “We’ve never done anything before,” Haru explained. “I don’t know it seems sudden. Neither of us has been overtly sexual I don’t think.”

Ann put a finger to her chin and took a moment to think. “She’s been spending more time with Shiho and Ren by herself, yeah?”

“Yeah?”

“I might have your answer. They don’t really have a filter about their sex lives, let’s be honest. You know that they kind of find it a contest, although in Shiho’s case it’s not like—” Ann stopped herself abruptly and shook her head slightly. “Anyway, they’ve probably talked about all the things that they get up to and have asked Makoto what she does. Either Makoto lied and made up things about you and wants to make them reality or she told the truth and feels embarrassed that she hasn’t slept with you yet.”

Haru sighed, her face falling. “Ren and Shiho are terrible. They shouldn’t pressure Makoto into having sex just to keep up with them. Especially if it’s going to make her so… out of character. I mean, what happened earlier was… okay, I guess. I can’t say it felt like Makoto was behind all of it though.”

Ann shrugged. “Tell Makoto that. I can appreciate why she might be embarrassed about it, even if she shouldn't be.”

Haru still looked put out. “I guess I just never thought she wanted that.”

Ann raised an eyebrow at her. “You thought Makoto didn’t want to sleep with you?”

Haru nodded slowly but didn’t respond. There wasn’t much interest from her or Makoto to start anything. Or maybe since she’d showed such little interest, Makoto was taking it slow for her sake. Had she completely misread the entire situation? Did Makoto really want to sleep with her that bad? They hadn’t really ever talked about it. Honestly, sexual topics rarely crossed any of their conversations besides some very vague flirting or talking about sex in an abstract way. But most of the time they laughed after that as if it was a joke. Was Haru so naïve that she hadn’t noticed Makoto being sexual with her? Sure they’d done things that could be interpreted as sexual, but Haru had never read the situations that way. They were just silly interactions. They were playful, not sexual. Maybe even a little embarrassing because Haru had never been that close with anyone before. They never led anywhere and Haru never had expected them to. Even when they had gone to the hot springs, Haru hadn’t wanted to see Makoto naked and ruin her first time seeing her naked in the spring but not for any sexual purposes. She wanted to see Makoto naked, but only because she thought that Makoto was very attractive. She wanted to be able to admire her in a more special way and not peeping on her in a hot spring as that seemed disrespectful. Sex hadn’t even crossed her mind in that scenario; though, now she supposed that most people would want to see their partner naked for sexual reasons and not just to admire their body.

She never even considered that Makoto would be seeing all this from a different point of view. Was it even a shocking revelation that Makoto wanted to have sex with her? They were dating after all. They had been for a while. There was no reason they couldn’t have sex. At least, not on Makoto’s end of it. The thought of Makoto wanting to have sex with her made Haru nervous.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” Ann assured her, noticing Haru’s long silence. “If you want to, do it. If you don’t, don’t. And don’t sweat the details too much.”

Haru frowned, looking at the ground. “I need to talk to Ren.” She stood up abruptly earning a confused look from Ann. She sidled up beside Ren where he stood with Ryuji and Makoto.

“Hey, Haru,” Makoto said with a bright smile.

“Hi,” Haru responded tightly. “I need to borrow Ren for just one moment if you don’t mind.” She looped her arm through Ren’s and dug her fingers into his bicep.

“I should take this,” Ren said apologetically. He handed his drink off to Ryuji just fast enough before Haru dragged him down the steps of his room.

“Ren,” Haru said in a warning tone. They’d come to rest in the middle of the staircase.

“Haru,” Ren responded a bit caught off guard by the fierceness in her voice.

“Have you and Shiho been talking about sex with Makoto?” Haru asked bluntly.

Ren tilted his head to the side, confusion clear on his face. “Nothing in particular. Shiho and I have said we have when she asked us but that’s because _she_ asked _us_. We’ve never talked explicitly about anything and we really only talk about it when she brings it up. She did ask Shiho a few questions about things the other day. We figured she’d never done it and wanted to offer some advice. Why…? Did something happen?”

Haru looked away, a sad frown on her face. So Makoto was asking of her own volition. She wanted to have sex… Haru sighed and looked back at Ren when his hand wrapped around hers.

“Haru… Did something happen?” he asked again. There was a genuinely concerned look on his face and Haru felt a stab in her chest.

“She just made a move before we left,” she said with a shake of her head. She waved her free hand in the air as if to dispel the conversation. “It’s nothing. You shouldn’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? I can talk to her for you,” he said as he stepped up a stair and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Haru tugged on him, shaking her head frantically. “Please don’t mention anything to her. Please.” Her voice dropped lower as she murmured, “I… I haven’t told her yet…” 

Ren's face softened and he nodded. “I understand. Let me know if you need me though, okay? For anything.”

Haru nodded and the two of them climbed the stairs and returned to the party.

As soon as they returned to the attic, Ren called everyone for dinner and the rest of the crew took seats around the table in the center of the room. He had gone to the lengths of putting a tablecloth over it and a single candle in the middle for decoration. There was real tableware and enough chairs for everyone for once. The table had been set up, one place for every person in attendance. Haru hadn’t realized that Ren would go all out for this party.

Haru took a seat at the table beside Makoto. She gave Makoto a small smile and Makoto returned it. Haru felt Makoto’s hand grip her thigh under the table. It was a little higher up than Haru would’ve liked and she shied away from the touch. Makoto glanced over then moved her hand to a much safer zone on Haru’s leg, not wanting to push the matter. Haru still felt uneasy by the gesture but didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

Dinner was served in three courses. The first course was a salad which was delightful and light. The main course was a pasta dish that Haru was only vaguely familiar with. Lastly, they were served coffee and cake. Haru wondered if Ren had made all of this himself. He seemed pleased as everybody complimented the food as if he was very proud of himself.

The banter around the table was friendly as always. Haru didn’t participate much, her mind wandering to other things. She was still hyper-aware of Makoto’s hand on her leg, which had inched up a bit once again. Haru felt like she was making a bigger deal out of it than it needed to be. Makoto touched her all the time. This wasn’t even the first time they’d had dinner in this same position. But the touch seemed double-edged now. There was an ulterior motive. Maybe there always was and she just hadn’t realized it. She’d just convinced herself Makoto wasn’t like that. She felt sick, her head starting to buzz with unwanted ideas.

To top it off, Ren was watching her like a hawk. She was avoiding his gaze as best she could. She realized now that she maybe shouldn’t have mentioned anything to him. All that had accomplished was making him worry about her which was the last thing she wanted. Then again, perhaps he was just being overprotective. It wasn’t like Makoto was going to hurt her or anything. Sure, Makoto had clear intentions, but it wasn’t like having that was necessarily bad. Maybe it was a little bit bad. Haru just desperately wanted this night to end or at the very least go home.

Makoto had caught on to the tension in Haru’s body. She also caught Ren’s gaze flickering between her and Haru. What had happened between them? And was she involved with whatever was bothering them both somehow?

“Do you want to leave soon?” Makoto asked Haru softly. Her hand drifted even farther up Haru’s leg as she leaned in.

Haru closed her eyes tightly as she tried to block out the sensation and gave a curt nod. “It’s been kind of a weird night and…” She glanced at Makoto’s hand on her thigh. “You seem to have other plans.”

Makoto blushed and pulled her hand away. “Sorry.”

Haru stood up without saying anything else about it and started to say her goodbyes to everyone. Makoto followed suit. After everyone had been talked to, the two girls started down the stairs. Makoto clomped down the stairs first, landing in the café and moving forward. Haru went to follow but Ren caught her arm before she could get too far.

“Haru,” he whispered quickly, “please call me if you need me. I’m right here.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine, Ren. It’s Makoto.” She gave Ren a small, unsure smile then went down the stairs after her girlfriend.

She received a text from him almost immediately after they’d left the building.

Haru to Ren

> **Ren** : Are you absolutely sure you’re okay?  
>  **Haru** : Yeah… I think it’ll be okay. It’s Makoto, right?  
>  **Ren** : Please don’t push yourself. Makoto will understand if you tell her.  
>  **Haru** : What if she doesn’t like me anymore if I don’t?  
>  **Ren** : Then she was never the right girl in the first place. Haru, please. You don’t have to do this.  
>  **Haru** : … I know. I just want her to love me. If this is what she wants then… I should be okay. She loves me right? And I love her. It’s different.  
>  **Ren** : But you haven’t been able to even talk about it with her. About anything. How is it different?  
>  **Haru** : We love each other. That should make it okay right?  
>  **Ren** : Maybe… I’m just worried that it won’t. Please be safe.  
>  **Haru** : You worry too much.  
>  **Ren** : If you say so. I’m just a call or text away. Please don’t hesitate. I love you, Haru.  
>  **Haru** : Love you too, Ren.

Haru slid her phone into her pocket. Ren was absolutely correct. It didn’t matter that Makoto loved her. Haru was already bubbling with underlying panic at the very thought of sleeping with Makoto. Even so, she had to. Makoto wouldn’t love her if she didn’t. It’s what Makoto wanted. She started to repeat the mantra in her head. _This is what she wants. Makoto wants this._ It tasted sour, but Haru was going to have to swallow it.

Haru and Makoto finally made it back to their apartment. Haru could already feel the night wearing on her, but she still had one more obstacle to leap. She took off her shoes and then instructed Makoto to unzip her dress. Makoto wasted no time in helping her and soon Haru was down to nothing but her underwear. Haru’s hair stood up on end almost instantly. The apartment was chillier than she had expected it to be. At least, that’s what she told herself.

Makoto looked her up and down, an almost hungry look in her eye. Haru tried not to shrink under the gaze. _This is what she wants. Makoto wants this._ Haru pushed herself closer to Makoto and started to remove Makoto’s clothes as well until she too was in nothing but her tight push-up bra and her underwear. Funnily enough, they were men’s underwear. The contrast would’ve made Haru laugh in other circumstances. 

Makoto smiled at her and picked Haru up as if she weighed nothing. Haru’s arms slipped around Makoto’s neck. The two made eye contact and the fluttery, panicked feeling in Haru’s chest from earlier resurfaced. It was already getting harder to breathe. _This is what she wants. Makoto wants this_. The two began to kiss gingerly as Makoto carried Haru off to the bedroom.

Makoto laid Haru softly on the edge of the bed and continued to kiss her. Haru shifted her knees up into Makoto’s stomach so she couldn’t get on top of her. If she did, Haru felt that her already shallow breathing would stop entirely. She teased Makoto with kisses that barely reached her. After a few moments of this, Makoto rolled her eyes and grabbed Haru by the armpits. She tossed her gently further up the bed and then practically flung herself down on top of her. Haru had the wind knocked out of her. A short, breathless laugh escaped her only because of the pure adrenaline rushing through her.

“You’re too strong,” Haru murmured. The panic in her chest was starting to spread. _This is what she wants. Makoto wants this_. She tried to distract herself by eying Makoto in the dimly lit room. Makoto’s arms were thick with nothing but muscle. Haru reached out and gently ran her hand over Makoto’s shoulders and down her arms, feeling all of the toned muscle there. It never ceased to amaze her how strong Makoto actually was. Haru had always found Makoto to be very attractive but, at the moment, her attraction was tinged with a dark cloud of panic. Trying to distract herself by looking at Makoto had failed miserably.

Makoto dipped her head and busied herself kissing down Haru’s jaw and neck. She was biting softly, not hard enough to leave a mark but enough to tell Haru she desperately wanted to.

Haru took a deep breath, trying anything to soothe herself. Her hands had become shaky and sweat was beginning to bead on her forehead. _This is what she wants. Makoto wants this_. She knew what she had to do. For all the show that Makoto had been putting on, it would have to be Haru who would push things further. She took one of Makoto’s hands and guided it to her bra where it came to rest cupped around her breast.

Makoto looked up at Haru with a questioning glance and Haru suddenly felt like she’d made the wrong move. Her already fast heartbeat picked up even further. The dread built up. Was she going to go under already?

“I-I thought you might like that,” Haru murmured uncertainly.

Makoto nodded and went back to kissing Haru’s neck and jaw with the added bonus of her hand moving clumsily over Haru’s chest with no real purpose. It wasn’t exactly… arousing. If anything, it was making Haru feel worse, her breath catching more and more often because of the unstable touch. It reminded her too much of being drunk. Makoto was more or less just squeezing each breast randomly. Haru let out a short sigh.

After another moment, she pushed Makoto off herself and sat up. She was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to uproot Makoto and the tension in her body eased slightly. She removed her bra with still shaking hands and tossed it off the side of the bed. She lay back down and looked at Makoto who seemed preoccupied with her breasts. Haru felt a heat rise in her face as she realized this was the first time that Makoto had seen her bare breasts in the sort of context where they were without a doubt meant to be sexual.

Haru resisted the urge to cover herself up, the idea of Makoto eyeing her body like that making her even more uncomfortable. But Makoto had always looked at her like that, hadn’t she? Haru was definitely going to throw up after this if the churning in her stomach was any indication. She pulled Makoto back on top of her, positioning one of Makoto’s legs between hers and then cupping Makoto's face in her hands. “Do something,” Haru muttered. “Maybe with your mouth…” She let her arms fall ungracefully above her head.

Makoto cocked her head to the side as she looked down at Haru. Haru didn’t seem very into what they were doing, that much she could tell. And were her hands shaking when she'd cupped her face? But Haru was the one who was pressing it further. Did she want this or not? Well, Haru had asked her to kiss her chest... Maybe she should just do it. Her lips touched the skin on Haru’s neck once more except this time her kisses slowly made their way downwards towards Haru’s chest. Haru let out a small breath of air but Makoto couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad breath.

As Makoto’s mouth began to move around Haru’s chest, Haru let her hand slip into Makoto’s hair, tugging on it softly. Having something to hold onto grounded her into reality somewhat. Her mantra kept her mind healthily away while her hand kept her from drifting too far off. Makoto was surprisingly efficient and Haru was already starting to feel an almost uncomfortable pressure building inside her. She felt nauseous.

_I should stop. Makoto wants this. I need to stop. I can’t stop. I can’t do this. I have to do this. What if she doesn’t like me if we don’t? What if she hates me? What if this is all that I’m good for? Nobody will ever love you if you don’t have sex with them. That’s what he said, wasn’t it? Makoto will never love me if I don’t have sex with her. If you tell her you can’t, she’ll think you’re broken. She’ll throw you away. You’ll be all alone again. You’ll only think of him. How he ruined you forever. You’ll never be anything to anybody because of him. Makoto can’t love the broken mess he left behind. You’re worthless if you stop._

A panicked gasp left Haru as her thoughts began to spiral out of control. She knew instantly that it could’ve been misconstrued as pleasure and that thought made her feel even worse. She needed to stop. “Makoto,” she whispered frantically, “I need a moment to collect myself.” At this point, she just needed Makoto off of her. Without hesitation, she braced her hands against Makoto’s shoulders and pushed her off to the side once more. This time it had more force behind her, the panic in her too strong to make her act calmly. Makoto made a soft ‘oof’ noise but didn’t protest. Haru ran a hand quickly through her hair trying to calm herself down by doing anything with her hands. She wrapped her arms around herself. Her mind was still whispering disturbing things to her and she couldn’t get it to stop. 

Makoto lay as still as possible where Haru had pushed her off. She didn’t say anything but her eyes watched intently. There was something incredibly off. Maybe her gut feeling had been correct and she should stop it. She went to open her mouth but Haru beat her to the punch.

“Mako-chan,” Haru said trying to sound as cheery as possible. She plopped on top of Makoto’s stomach, “Would you like a return of the favor?”

“Oh.” Makoto was surprised by the drastic change. Haru had looked almost like she was panicking and now she was smiling. Was Haru just really nervous about her first time? Makoto was nervous too, but not that nervous. “Do you want to? Or… I… um… do you want me to continue on you?”

Haru shook her head. “Oh no. I’m alright.”

Makoto frowned slightly, her eyebrow raised in question. “Are... you done?”

Haru nodded now. “Oh, yes, of course! You did such a good job, how could I not? It was very nice. L-Let me do you now.” Haru’s resolve started to peter out at the end. Why was she lying like this to Makoto? It was Makoto. That was the reason she was lying and the reason she shouldn’t lie. Makoto wanted this though. Haru wanted to make her happy. She had to do this. Another wave of panic crashed down on her and she visibly winced.

Makoto would’ve had to have been blind to not notice that. “Haru, what’s wrong? Do you want to stop? We don’t have to do this.”

Haru shook her head frantically. “No! No, we can keep going. I-I…” Her brain was working a mile a minute to try and come up with a reason why they should keep going. “I love you and… we… um…”

“Haru,” Makoto said softly, “do you want to stop? Please tell me the truth.”

Haru looked away and was silent for a long moment. How could she just tell Makoto the truth? She was just going to think Haru was broken. Didn’t everybody who knew do that already? Ren didn’t even trust her to make her own decisions. He had been right, of course. She knew that he was right. But even so, he was treating her like she couldn’t make up her own mind in the matter. Like he had to protect her feelings for her. Makoto was going to be the same way if Haru told her the truth. She would act like she had to protect poor, little Haru from the world. Haru wasn’t poor or little and she could protect herself from the world. She took a deep breath. Makoto still deserved to know the truth. That much was for certain.

“Um… I used to have this… boyfriend if you could even call him that,” Haru started slowly. “He was a young man that my father wanted me to marry. When I was still in high school, he treated me like his own personal toy… He would pull me away whenever he felt he needed me and… well… you-you get the idea.” Haru paused trying to collect herself again before she got too derailed. “I regret to inform you that I don’t particularly like sex and things of that nature.” It was incredibly formal but that was the only way her brain could come up to say it.

Makoto sat up suddenly, knocking Haru back into her lap. She gripped Haru’s shoulders and looked her dead in the eye. “Wait, was this whole thing…? Did-Did I… press this onto you?”

Tears had started to form in Haru’s eyes. She couldn't look at Makoto. “I-I wanted you to be happy with me.”

Makoto grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around Haru. “My god, I’m so sorry, Haru. We can stop right now. I’m so, so sorry.”

“No… No, don’t be. I’m sorry for… having to stop,” Haru mumbled. Several tears had fallen down her cheeks and her face was wet. The blanket was warm and comforting. Now that she was hidden, she felt some of the panic slide off her shoulders.

“Don’t,” Makoto said firmly. “Haru, you have no reason to be sorry. This is my fault. I was so caught up in my own head I never even considered your feelings. Please, you don’t have to sleep with me to make me happy. You will never have to do that.”

“Mako-chan…” Haru whimpered. The tears were free-flowing now.

“Let’s get you dressed,” Makoto said gently, rubbing Haru’s shoulders. She set Haru on the bed making sure she was fully covered and then got Haru’s pajamas from where they’d been knocked on the floor. She laid them out and then turned around. “Go ahead and change. I won’t watch.”

Haru got up slowly and got herself dressed. She took a deep breath and flexed her fingers a couple of times to shake out her nerves. She’d calmed down considerably since they’d stopped. Putting on all her clothes had gotten the tears to stop. Once she felt comfortable enough to move and most of the panic had left her, she went and wrapped her arms around Makoto’s waist. She wanted things to stop being so weird for the evening. Her heart was still pounding in her chest.

“We should get to bed,” Makoto murmured. “I can sleep out in the living room if you’d like.”

“No!” Haru gasped. Her arms tightened around Makoto and she pressed her face into her back. “Please don’t… I’m not mad at you. Don’t banish yourself. Let’s just get ready for bed.”

Makoto nodded and pulled out of Haru’s grip. She grabbed her own pajamas and started to change into them. Haru stood awkwardly at the edge of the room. She didn’t want to watch, thinking that might be weird, but she also wanted to wait until Makoto was ready to go in the bathroom so they could get ready together like they normally did. Once Makoto was dressed, the two went into the bathroom. Makoto started to brush her teeth first and Haru took off what little makeup she had on.

“I feel like I owe you more of an explanation,” Haru said after a moment of silence.

Makoto spat in the sink. “I can’t say I’m too concerned about the whole story… I can appreciate why you didn’t tell me. I wish you had so this didn’t happen but… I understand.” She started for a second round of brushing.

“Well, it’s over now. It has been for a while. I wish I could say that I’m over it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. While I am okay talking about sex and even being in some situations that could be sexual, the idea and act of having sex sets me off. When you cornered me earlier, that triggered the first wave of panic. I’m used to you treating me so gently and you’re not very pushy. So when you did that, I didn’t know what to do. And of course, it was obvious what your intentions were. I was able to get back to normal fairly quickly. The party was weird, but nobody seemed to notice but Ren.”

Makoto spat into the sink again. “I didn't mean to be so pushy. I didn't even really think about it as being very rough, but then again I am stronger than I realize sometimes. And I noticed Ren watching us both intently at the party.” She leaned against the counter and looked at the ground. “What did you say to him?”

“It’s not what I said, it’s what happened before,” Haru murmured. The story started to tumble out of her mouth as if someone had turned on a faucet. “Ren transferred to my school during my third year. I had already been with Sugimura, the man I was supposed to marry, for well over a year. Ren and I became very close and he was often on the receiving end of my rants about my home life. There was one time in particular that pushed Ren over the edge, though.

“It was after a party that my father had thrown. The evening was already running late as it was, but Sugimura had decided that we should have sex that night as well. He grabbed me by the hand and whispered something about not letting my father see us. He pulled me off to my room. I know people saw us. They had to. Of course, no one said anything about it.

“I was used to this mistreatment at this point which sounds horrible, and it was. At the same time, I wasn’t in any position to stop it and it seemed nobody cared about what happened to me. Whether I got hurt under Sugimura or not seemed like an afterthought to most people. He could’ve killed me and I don’t think anybody would’ve batted an eye.”

“Haru, that’s awful,” Makoto said in a horrified whisper.

“I know,” Haru said bluntly. She carried on. “That night Sugimura stayed with me almost all night which was unusual. Usually, he only stayed for an hour or so and he hated staying the night with me. I had school in the morning. I believe he finally left at five in the morning. At that point, I just got up and went to school. I met Ren on the roof at lunch. He noticed how terrible I looked and asked what had happened to make me look so ragged and haunted. I told him and he was so mad that he punched the wall and bloodied his knuckles.

“Ren offered to house me after that. I stayed with him for three weeks. I ignored all calls and texts from Sugimura. When he finally managed to find me, Ren threatened him. He threatened to call the police after he’d knocked all of Sugimura’s teeth out. To this day, I still can't believe he said something so stupid and put his life on the line for me. I can’t thank him enough for being that reckless. I don’t know how or why, but Sugimura stopped trying to contact me. The next thing I knew I got a call from my father telling me that Sugimura had called off the marriage. 

“I went home but my father basically disowned me at that point. I lived off and on with Ren for a year and worked at the coffee shop to spend even more time under his and Sojiro's care. That's why I am so close with Ren and Futaba. I did go home every so often. My father wouldn’t not let me stay at home if I wanted, but he was never really happy to see me.” Haru shrugged. “It's not like it mattered much though. When we met, I was in the process of looking for my own place to live that wasn't his house or Ren's. You came at almost the perfect time, you know. Here we are now.”

“Jesus, Haru,” Makoto said as she rubbed a makeup wipe on her face, “I had no idea. I knew your home life was shitty but not that bad." 

Haru shrugged again. She pushed Makoto to the side and started to brush her teeth now that her story was over.

Makoto moved to give Haru enough space to work. The night had turned sour quickly and she wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole thing. It was going to take her a day or two to work through all the baggage Haru had just dumped on her. Maybe they could just stay in tomorrow and talk through some more things.

“So,” Makoto said, “if it’s not too much to ask, why did you let me get as far as I did? Or I guess why did you push it further than you were comfortable with? I could tell that something was off but you… asked me to continue so I thought maybe you were just really nervous.”

Haru tapped her fingers on the counter with her free hand as she thought. She was still brushing her teeth. Makoto would have to wait for the answer. She probably wasn’t going to like it, but Haru had said more than enough upsetting things that evening. What was one more? 

She spat into the sink. “You wanted to have sex,” she said simply.

“What?”

“After you made that move before we left, I asked Ren about if he and Shiho ever talked about sex around you. He told me you brought it up every time. He told me that Shiho had given you advice the other day. You wanted to have sex.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you… had to. You could’ve said no…”

Haru sighed. She looked run down and defeated. “I know. It’s just… not that easy. It was drilled into my head that the only thing I was ever good for was sex." Haru gripped the edge of the counter. "So finding out that was what you wanted… I had convinced myself that it was the only way to make you happy with me… Makoto, before this, I’d been foolishly convinced that you would never want to have sex. I know now that sounds really stupid. But I honestly believed it. And finding out you did want to have sex, I figured what we were doing wasn't enough.”

Makoto blinked in surprise. “Haru, we’ve… done a lot of almost sexual stuff?”

“I know, I know. It's hard to explain but I never saw any of it that way. I always thought it was playful and we were joking. I couldn’t imagine my girlfriend would want to have sex with me.” Haru sighed. “I realize now that you never saw it that way. Everything has always been sexual. You’ve always looked at me thinking about sex as an option.” Haru wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m not mad about it. You have every right to want that. I’m more upset about how stupid I am for not seeing it sooner.”

Makoto sighed now. “You’re not stupid. You were just protecting yourself. Anyway, on the bright side, Shiho did tell me that my first time would be shit. The prophecy has been fulfilled.” She threw up her hands in a what-are-you-going-to-do gesture, trying to lighten the mood.

That brought a small laugh out of Haru and Makoto flashed her a smile. “I assume that means that Ann and Shiho’s first time was bad,” Haru said, happy to change the subject. “I’m beginning to think their advice isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Right?!” Makoto exclaimed. “Those two are both too awkward for their own good!”

Haru giggled again. “Are you sure you should’ve asked Shiho for sex advice?”

Makoto shrugged. “I didn’t get to put it into practice but it sounded like she knew what she was doing. It also sounded like they have a lot of sex; which, like, they’re hot or whatever, but don’t they do anything else?”

“I’m sure they do. You know that Ann said she would’ve hooked up with you tonight if you were both single.”

“She wouldn’t,” Makoto said shaking her head. “Would she?”

Haru shrugged with a small smile on her face. “Do you want to sleep with Ann?”

“The answer to that is: I love you Haru and would never ever cheat on you. Asterisk, given the opportunity to sleep with Ann Takamaki no strings attached and nobody would be mad about it, I might.”

“You’re much hornier than I thought,” Haru mused.

Makoto blushed. “And you’re just as blunt as ever.”

“You just said you would consider sleeping with Ann given the chance. How are you not overtly horny?”

“You asked!” Makoto said exasperatedly. “I will not self-incriminate any further. I want a lawyer present.”

“You want your sister to attend hearings on your sexual fantasies?”

“Oh, God, no!” Makoto buried her face in her hands. “We should just stop talking about it.”

“I’m having fun,” Haru said with a giggle. She paused and tilted her head to the side. "Makoto, this is kind of what I'm talking about... We talk about sex but never about sex. It's always funny. It's why I never took it very seriously or thought you had any intentions. We were just having fun. I know you wouldn't actually sleep with Ann. It's just a joke."

Makoto nodded. “I... see what you mean. We can talk a lot more about this later though. Weren’t we going to bed?”

 

Haru nodded and Makoto’s hand. She gently kissed her on the cheek. “I love you more than words could ever express.”

Makoto smiled. “I love you too.”

“Carry me off to bed?” Haru asked holding her arms out. With the air cleared between them and the idea of sex off the table, Haru felt comfortable in Makoto's presence once again.

Makoto scooped her up and Haru held on tightly. She carried Haru back to their room and set her gently on the floor once they’d passed through the doorway. She flipped off the lights and the two of them climbed into bed for the second time that night.

Haru buried herself under the covers and nestled in close to Makoto. Makoto pecked her on the cheek and Haru smiled. “Good night,” she whispered.

“Good night,” Makoto whispered back.


	10. We Can Be Okay (M)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so this is the tie-up of last chapter.  
> rating is for sexual themes  
> im sorry about all the angst and i hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> next chapter will be super fuzzy because somebody's birthday is coming up uwu. it should be up on or right after her birthday. and then there's fluffy christmas stuff to write!

Haru was lying in Ren’s bed with Futaba curled up beside her. They were tucked underneath the blanket with Futaba’s back pressed against Haru and Haru’s arms wrapped gently around her. Haru’s head was resting on Futaba’s so she could watch the game Futaba was playing on her 3DS. It was a quiet game about farming that Haru had watched Futaba play countless hours of, in this position no less. Ren was lounging across the room on the couch reading a manga with his cat curled up tightly on his chest.

It was a quiet afternoon, something that the three hadn’t shared in a while. Since Haru had started seeing Makoto and Ren was busy with Ryuji a lot, the three didn’t have as much time to be quiet together. Haru felt a little bad since Futaba didn’t have many friends to hang out with after school. She had a handful of friends but they were usually busy with activities. Realistically spending time with Ren and Haru was a lot of the interaction she got outside of her class. It wasn’t great that most of the time she spent with them was while they were working at the coffee shop. Haru truly enjoyed Futaba’s company; but, when the only time she ever saw her was while she was working, Haru felt that the situation could be misconstrued as her not wanting to be around a lot.

However, today was a Sunday and Sojiro had closed the shop for the day for personal reasons—the reason being he just didn’t want to be open. Futaba was free from school, Ryuji had been delegated to hang out with Yusuke to help him with an art project, and Makoto was busy doing something for her sister. The stars had aligned and they were now spending their time like they had before their lives had gotten busier.

The room was chilly even with Ren’s space heater. If plants didn’t fare well in the winter, neither did Haru and the chilly afternoon was a testament to that. Her eyes fell closed almost against her will. Being warm under the blanket had started to make her drowsy. Haru yawned and pulled Futaba tighter, snuggling into the other girl.

“Tired?” Futaba asked.

Haru’s eyes fluttered open and she took in a sharp breath. “Mmm… Only a little bit. I can still watch you play.”

Futaba shook her head. “If you wanna nap, go for it. Ren looks like he’s already asleep over there.”

Haru turned her attention to Ren whose head was tilted back and his eyes closed. Ren's cat had moved to the top of the couch to sleep next to Ren's head. The manga hung loosely in his hand over the side of the couch. It was going to drop any second.

“I guess it’s a sleepy afternoon,” Haru mused. “Would you like to nap too?”

“Yeah, I could go for a nap,” Futaba admitted. She turned off the 3DS, snapped it shut, and set it on the floor beside the bed.

Haru pulled Futaba closer and let her get settled into her arms. She gave Futaba a couple of quick pets on the head to soothe her and then let her eyes fall closed. It had been a while since they’d shared a bed for a nap. It was a warm feeling that Haru had almost forgotten about. She wasn’t used to someone needing her for a change. It seemed she almost always relied on someone else. For Futaba, though, Haru was the closest thing that she had to a motherly figure. Ren wasn’t bringing any girls home—well, besides Haru—and Sojiro was hopeless when it came to keeping a woman. So Haru had stepped up and started to spend more time with Futaba, bringing a strong female presence into her life. She didn’t feel that Sojiro was doing a bad job raising Futaba; there were just some things that Futaba asked Haru that she would never ask Sojiro or Ren about. Haru was just happy she could be of some assistance.

Her mind started to drift away to other things as she tried to sleep. Of course, her first thoughts were of Makoto. Things had been slightly weird between them since their botched sexual encounter only a couple of days ago. They had kind of talked about it, but their conversations only did circles. They weren’t making much progress working through their emotions, let alone what to do about it. It didn’t help that Makoto had shut down and snapped at Haru the night before when she tried to bring it up and talk again.

Haru wasn't mad at Makoto for not talking about it. Makoto felt incredibly guilty for what had happened. Even though Haru explained that neither of them was at fault, Makoto still seemed very emotional about the whole thing. To make matters worse, Makoto's way of handling her emotions was to shove them deep down inside of herself and try to forget about them. Haru had been keeping them near the surface by bringing it up for several days now and Makoto was at her emotional threshold. Of course, that didn’t mean there still wasn’t a lot to discuss. It only meant that the dam was going to burst any time now and that thought scared Haru.

Haru’s mind started to wander off, sleep beginning to overtake her worried thoughts. She was soon pulled into a light doze where her mind was still churning incoherent thoughts that she couldn’t recall. Futaba was twitching in her sleep as she had a vivid dream. The sensation wasn’t enough to wake Haru but enough to keep her from falling asleep entirely. She was pulled out of her doze by her phone vibrating by her head. She missed it three times before finally being able to grab it in her sleepy state. She answered with a sleepy and quiet, “Hello.”

“Good morning,” Makoto’s voice came through quietly from the other end. She sounded amused to have found Haru asleep in the middle of the day. “You were asleep?”

Haru wiggled away from Futaba and sat up so she wouldn’t be talking right next to the other girl's head. She rubbed her face and let out a small sigh. “A little. I was napping with Futaba and Ren. Did you need something?”

“Can’t a girl just want to hear her girlfriend’s beautiful voice?” Makoto asked playfully.

“I guess… But I’m going to see you tonight, aren’t I? You couldn’t wait a few more hours to hear me then?”

“About that… my sister invited you to dinner. I thought since you’d be coming over anyway, you could also help me clean out my old room too since you’re so organized. It’s not… going very well.”

“You still have things at your sister’s house?” Haru asked her mind immediately skipping over the Sae inviting her to dinner part. By Makoto’s brief description and what Haru knew about her, there was a good chance that it was absolutely trashed.

“Yeah, she hasn’t taken apart my room. Now that we have our own place she wants everything either thrown out or taken with me. Aside from some childhood things that she wants to keep for personal reasons.”

“Aren’t there going to be a lot of embarrassing things in there that you don’t want me to see? That _was_ your high school bedroom.”

Makoto laughed. “Maybe. But we’re dating so you’ll find them out sooner or later. Honestly, I’d rather you hear it from me than hearing it secondhand from sis or something. She does talk about me in some embarrassing ways without me knowing.”

Haru smiled to herself thinking of how true that was. She glanced over at Futaba, who still seemed sound asleep beside her. She let out a soft sigh. “Okay. What time do you want me to get over there?”

“Sis just left to go get things for dinner. So maybe if you can get over here in the next half hour to an hour, that would be okay. There’s really no rush but don’t take too long.”

“I can’t believe you’re dragging me away from my sister to hang out with yours,” Haru said overdramatically.

“You were napping,” Makoto said and Haru could hear her eyes rolling.

“Have you ever napped with your sister?”

“Not since we both were a lot younger. I really only remember one time.”

“Mmm… Okay, I’ll be over in a bit. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Haru hung up, flopped backward on the bed, and stared at the ceiling. She was really hoping to have a little bit more time with Futaba and Ren. Especially since this was the first real quality time that she’d spent with Futaba in a little while. At the same time, she’d never been invited to dinner with Sae before with just the three of them. And by Sae herself!

“Are you leaving, Haru-oneechan…?” Futaba asked quietly. She sounded sleepy and she reached out a hand to find Haru again.

Haru felt a small stab of guilt. Futaba hadn’t called her big sis in a while. “Yeah… I’m sorry, Futaba-chan.” Haru rolled over and hugged Futaba close again. She squeezed her as tight as she could without crushing the other girl. “I promise I’ll spend time with you again soon, okay?”

Futaba nodded. “I’ll still have Ren for the rest of the day. Maybe he’ll take me out to see a movie tonight.”

Haru petted Futaba’s hair and kissed the top of her head. “I love you so much.”

“I know, I know.” Futaba sat up, pulling out of Haru’s grasp. “Don’t get so mushy. I’m going to wake up Ren now.” Futaba got up out of bed, went over, and jumped onto Ren.

Ren woke with a start, letting out a startled yelp. He wrapped his arms around Futaba just barely catching her from falling off the couch when he sat up suddenly. “Futaba, what the hell?!”

“Haru’s leaving,” Futaba said. She’d gone limp in Ren’s arms and Haru could see he was only a little irritated at her. “Her girlfriend calls and so she must go.”

Ren looked over at Haru with a confused look. “Is that so? I thought she was spending the entire day with us.”

Haru gave him an awkward smile. “Sae-san asked me to dinner.”

“Ah,” Ren said nodding. “Okay. I remember when Ryuji’s mom first invited me to dinner. It was a big deal. You should go. But promise that you’re going to have dinner with us soon, okay?”

Haru nodded. “Of course I will! I’m glad you understand. It sounds like Sae-san is making dinner too.” She got up from the bed and stretched.

Ren smiled. “Well, you better get going then. Futaba and I will miss you, though.” He grabbed one of Futaba’s limp arms and made her wave at Haru.

Haru walked over to them. She leaned down and kissed Futaba on the forehead. “I’m really sorry. If we can get together later this week, we can have dinner just the three of us.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Futaba murmured.

Haru smiled and pecked Ren on the cheek. “It’s a promise to you too, okay? Hold me to it. I expect you to make time away from Ryuji for the same purpose.”

Ren smiled back at her. “Of course. Now if you’ll excuse us, Futaba has to crush me at Mariokart.”

 

Haru decided she had enough time to run home and change clothes. She hadn’t really dressed to have dinner with Sae. Not that she felt she needed to go all out, but she at least wanted to look a little more presentable. She hadn’t necessarily put on her nicest clothes to hang out with Ren and Futaba. Plus, she remembered how awful she'd felt the last time she'd spent a lot of time with Sae because Sae just always looked so nice in whatever she was wearing.

It had been a while since she had been to Sae’s house. She’d only been there a couple of times with Makoto to do odds and ends chores for Sae so heading there on her own felt strange. Her nerves were about to explode and she felt she was two steps away from visibly shaking. She had been perfectly fine at Ren's, but the closer she got the more nervous she became. Perhaps she was overthinking it. It was just dinner with Sae. Sae was just Makoto’s older sister. Her very talented, powerful, and put together older sister. And the dinner was one she had prepared herself. Haru sighed. How could this possibly go wrong? When she finally arrived, she was let up by Sae herself.

“Good evening, Haru-chan,” Sae greeted once Haru had made it to the door.

“Ah, good evening, Sae-san,” Haru responded brightly. She bowed her head slightly as she passed through the doorway into the apartment. Her first thought was that it looked more lived in than the last time she had seen it. Sae must’ve been spending more time at home these days.

“Siiiis,” Makoto’s loud, depressed moan echoed down the hallway, “there’s so much junk in here!”

Sae rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Haru-chan, you’re an absolute saint. She's been complaining all day that there's a lot of stuff in there. I'm at my wits end with her.”

Haru giggled. “She is a handful. I think she’s charming though.”

Makoto came down the hallway. She was holding a book in each of her hands and seemed preoccupied with them. Haru looked her up and down. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants that had a low crotch and cinched at the ankles. Her t-shirt was loose around her torso but tight on her arms. Her hair was pulled back in the tiniest ponytail that Haru could imagine existing; her hair had grown out just enough to put it up since spring.

Makoto looked up from the books and noticed Haru. “Oh!” she gasped as her face lit up. “You’re here!”

Haru chuckled. “Of course, silly. You asked me to come.”

Makoto set the books down on a table as she crossed the room easily. She caught Haru’s hand and squeezed gently. "Thanks for coming," she said pleasantly and pecked Haru on the cheek.

Haru blinked in surprise, her eyes flickering over to Sae to see her reaction. Sae's face was as neutral as ever and Haru relaxed slightly. "It was no problem, really."

“Well, now that you’re here, let’s clean up my room!” Makoto said cheerfully. “If you need anything, sis, just call. Haru would be happy to help in the kitchen. She’s really good.”

Sae nodded. “I’d prefer you clean the room. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Makoto nodded and then dragged Haru by the hand down to her bedroom. Haru nearly had a heart attack when she saw the room. She had thought Makoto’s apartment had been bad but this was an absolute disaster. There were piles of things everywhere and Haru wasn’t even sure if they were organized piles or just a hodgepodge of junk.

“M-Makoto, I…” Haru started slowly. She could barely find a path to step through to get into the room. She wasn’t sure where they would begin cleaning things up.

“It didn't look like this when I started and it’s not as bad as it looks,” Makoto assured her quickly. “I made it a lot worse but there is some method to the madness. I promise.”

“How do you have so much stuff here?”

“I’m very sentimental.”

Haru nodded once. She wasn’t one to hold onto things needlessly. Then again she’d never had anything with good memories to hold on to. She started to sift through some of Makoto’s things that had been piled on the bed. It looked like mostly old things from high school: old journals of class notes, pamphlets from events, a poster for a maid café that must’ve been a part of a festival at the school, random assortments of paper that had doodles or notes on them, and old sketchbooks that had drawings that Haru was surprised by—both for their ability and their content as most of them were nude body studies. As she flipped through one of the old notebooks, several photos fluttered out from the front cover. She let out a soft noise of surprise and picked up one of them.

It was of Makoto and another girl. They had their arms around each other’s shoulders. It looked like it was taken on graduation day. The girl was very pretty and had a bright smile on her face. Haru could tell that the smile seemed to be more for the person who was behind the camera than it was for Makoto.

“Hey, Makoto, who’s this?” Haru asked gently.

Makoto stood up from the pile she was at and went over to Haru. She looked over Haru’s shoulder and studied the photo. “Ah, that’s Ai-chan. She was my vice president in student council.”

Haru nodded slowly, studying the picture once more. “I forgot you were president of your student council. How did that happen? You’re one of the most disorganized people I know. Not to mention you’re horrible at time management.”

Makoto shot her a look and Haru knew she’d hit a nerve. “I was a lot more… refined in high school," Makoto mumbled. "Some might even say I had a stick up my ass, I was so straight-laced.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but what happened? I mean, I love you perfectly fine the way you are and absolutely wouldn’t change you, but I’m just curious why you’re not like that anymore.”

Makoto sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ve never been like that. Yes, I acted that way, but I’ve never been that type of person. I only did that stuff for sis. I kept my head down, nose clean, and got good grades. I was in student council, I devoted all of my time to studying, and I made sure to take all of my college entrance exams seriously. After dad died, sis had to take care of me. I really did everything in high school for her sake which meant I didn’t have many friends and didn’t really do the things I wanted to do. Now that I’m living for myself, I don’t really… act like that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Haru murmured. “I didn’t realize.”

Makoto shook her head. “It’s fine. I will say I have a lot of good memories with Ai-chan. She was probably my closest friend. Along with her boyfriend.”

Haru looked dubious; the boyfriend comment was just too obvious. “So she was your first crush?”

Makoto blushed and crossed her arms. “First of all, how dare you. Second of all, yes she absolutely was. She and her boyfriend dated all through high school.” Makoto let out a wistful sigh. “Not much I could do about that. Being near her was enough for me, though. I didn’t date in high school despite getting a couple of confessions. Most people just thought I was prudish and a confession killer.”

“You were a lesbian, though.”

Makoto nodded. “There’s that, although, I did get a confession from a girl. Of course, I had to turn her down. I couldn’t really have the whole school finding out I was a lesbian… The student council president is gay,” she said it as if she was reading a headline. She tugged at the collar of her shirt and pulled a face. “Yikes.”

Haru rested her hand on Makoto’s shoulder. “I know that feeling.”

Makoto smiled and grabbed Haru’s hand. She kissed it gently. “All’s well that ends well.”

The two went back to cleaning out the room. Haru threw out most of Makoto’s old high school things, saving only the more sentimental memories that Makoto couldn’t bear to part with. It took them a while but they made a sizable dent in the mess. The entire area around the bed had been cleaned up and Haru felt more at ease being able to see the floor.

Unfortunately, as they continued to clean, Makoto started to act weird. She was being oddly quiet and distant. Haru didn’t really know why or what to do about it. She wondered if cleaning up all these old memories was just draining for Makoto. There was quite a bit to unpack here. Being a closeted lesbian under the firm hand of her sister didn’t seem like the most ideal living situation for an emotionally compromised teen. Not to mention that it came up time and time again that Makoto’s father had passed away. It seemed Makoto had held onto a lot of things that carried his memory. She must’ve really adored her father. Haru was almost envious.

Makoto sat on the floor against the bed. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a brief moment. She looked drained. All of her emotions were catching up to her.

Haru plopped down in her lap and gave her a gentle smile. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine,” Makoto murmured. She gave Haru a weak smile. “Just a little mentally exhausted.”

Haru cupped her face and kissed her. When Makoto kissed her back, Haru slipped her arms forward and wrapped them around Makoto’s neck. She undid Makoto’s ponytail, letting the hair tie snap around her wrist, and started to play with Makoto’s hair as they kissed. It was soft and she moved her fingers easily through it. Haru gave it a playful tug.

Makoto moaned softly, letting her arms wrap around Haru’s waist. Haru seemed to be in one of her more flirtatious moods. That was okay. Makoto just had to make sure she didn’t do anything too risqué to irritate Haru. Although, it seemed Haru was the one pushing the boundaries this time. Her knees were pressed tightly to Makoto’s hips and she’d leaned in as close as possible, sandwiching Makoto between the bed and her body. Makoto pulled her even tighter; Haru’s body was a welcome comfort.

Haru continued to run her fingers through Makoto’s hair, gently toying with it. Their kiss had petered out but neither of them seemed inclined to really pull away from it. Makoto made another soft noise as Haru shifted to rubbing the back of Makoto’s neck. Haru had to break the kiss to giggle. 

“Do you like that?” Haru asked.

“It’s pretty nice,” Makoto responded. She sounded sleepy. “Could you rub my shoulders a bit?”

“Of course.”

Haru started to firmly rub Makoto’s shoulders. Makoto squirmed; the tension in her shoulders was not happy to be worked out. She let out a squeak of pain and was met with Haru’s lips to quiet her. Makoto’s hands moved to Haru’s sides where she gripped tightly.

“Ow, don’t pinch me,” Haru whined as she slapped Makoto’s hands away.

“Sorry, my shoulders hurt terribly.”

Haru scooted off of Makoto. “Here, take off your shirt and lie on the bed. I’ll work it out better.”

Without a second thought to it, Makoto did as she was instructed. She pulled off her shirt and lied face down on the bed. Haru sat on top of her and began to work on Makoto’s shoulders. Makoto realized quickly that this felt even worse than before. She gripped the bed sheets in her fist and choked out painful moans into the mattress. It would feel better in the end she knew, but Haru was truly killing her at the moment.

“Excuse me.”

Haru’s hands froze and Makoto turned her head to see Sae standing in the doorway. She didn’t look too pleased with either of them. Makoto had almost forgotten that they were indeed at Sae’s house and not in their own apartment. 

“H-Hi, Sae-san,” Haru said quietly. She’d sat back but didn't move off of Makoto. There seemed no point, as they were already in a somewhat incriminating position.

“Dinner is ready,” Sae said. “Please come to the table. Clothed,” she added pointedly to Makoto. Makoto only gave her a thumbs-up in return and Sae disappeared back down the hall.

“It’s not like we were doing anything super weird,” Makoto mumbled. “What just because we’re gay?”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Haru said gently. 

Makoto knocked Haru off of herself rather roughly and got up off of the bed. “Whatever. It’s not like she has a boyfriend that loves her.” She got up and put her shirt back on. 

Haru scooted to the edge of the bed, still a little perturbed by being thrown off like that. She looked up at Makoto. “How do you know she doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

Makoto blinked in surprise then frowned. “What…?” She shook her head. “No. No way! Sis doesn’t date.”

“You’re not home anymore,” Haru pointed out. “Didn’t you notice that it looks like Sae-san spends a lot more time here?”

“Well, yeah… But she’s not working on a high profile case,” Makoto said as if she was trying to convince herself more than Haru. “She-She wouldn’t get a boyfriend. She’s too…”

“Too what?”

“I don’t know! But she wouldn’t date someone. That’s… so weird. I can’t even imagine her with a boyfriend. Let alone having—” Makoto stopped herself short and bit her fist. “You don’t actually think that, right? You’re just fucking with me?” She gave Haru a pleading look.

Haru shrugged and said as gently as possible, “I don’t know for sure but I can’t rule it out.” She hadn’t expected Makoto to react that way. Then again, Sae was more like a motherly figure than a sisterly one. Haru could imagine the shock of finding out the woman who basically raised you was in a committed relationship outside of your knowledge. It was a strange thought. One Haru wouldn't want to think about if she was in that situation. “You should want her to be happy in a relationship just like she was for you.”

“Haru, you can’t start making sense now. This is Sae Niijima we’re talking about.”

“Girls!” Sae’s voice rang from the hallway. “I thought I told you to come to dinner! Perhaps I was speaking to myself when I said that.”

“Sorry, sis!” Makoto called back. “We’re coming right now.” She turned to Haru with a glare. “If she has a boyfriend, I might die.”

Haru held her hands up in surrender. “Let’s just go to dinner.”

The two girls sat across from Sae at the dinner table. There wasn’t any conversation as they ate, some of which Haru felt responsible for. Makoto was radiating a tense energy that was putting a sour mood over the table. Haru tried to block it out and just watch Sae eat her dinner. Sae was methodical in her eating. It seemed everything was streamlined to be consumed in a timely fashion. Her movements were quick and deliberate.

Haru had never studied Sae too closely before; but, now that she was, it was hard to put the two Niijimas together as sisters. They shared their father’s last name and his nose, but that was where the similarities seemed to end. For one, Sae's personality was probably what Makoto had based her personality off of in high school. Not that Haru would say Sae had a 'stick up her ass' as Makoto had put it, but she was definitely strict and no-nonsense in every sense. Makoto was much more, if Haru could put it lovingly, of an idiot. Not that she was stupid—she was smart when she applied herself—she just lacked some social skills and was easily influenced by those around her. Shiho and Ren had already taken full advantage of that naivety. Her lack of self probably stemmed from her inability to figure herself out in high school. Haru could only imagine that if this version of Makoto had existed in high school, Sae would've kicked her out years ago. They could barely be in the same house together for a day, not that Makoto had been doing herself any favors.

Aside from their personality differences, they physically weren't anywhere near similar. Sae’s frame was much smaller and delicate than Makoto’s. That wasn’t even because Makoto was more muscular. If Sae worked out the same, they still wouldn’t be on the same level of body shape. Sae was slender and tall in nature whereas Makoto was shorter with broader shoulders. Haru also felt that Sae’s eyes carried a much deeper interest in them than Makoto’s did. The look in Sae’s eyes was something Makoto only had rarely if she was very interested in something. Sae seemed to always have the fire burning behind them. It was one of her most intimidating qualities; it felt like she could see right into you.

“Sae-san, this is a lovely meal,” Haru said politely. She had to say something. The silence was beginning to kill her.

“Thank you,” Sae responded without much enthusiasm. Haru had picked up that she wasn’t one for conversation during meal times.

“May I ask you a personal question, Sae-san?” Haru continued.

Sae paused in her meal to look up at Haru. “You may.”

“Are you dating anyone?” Haru's own curiosity had gotten the better of her. She wanted to know the answer to sate herself.

Makoto nearly choked on her food and shot Haru a fiery glare, which Haru didn’t react to. Both girls watched Sae intensely for her reaction.

Sae straightened up, her hand gripping her chopsticks even tighter. “Is it… obvious?”

Makoto gaped at Sae now. “Wait, you are?!”

Sae sighed, setting her chopsticks down now. She folded her hands in front of herself. “Well, I was going to ease you into the idea first, but it appears Haru-chan is more perceptive than I thought originally.”

Haru's face flushed as she suddenly felt embarrassed for bringing it up. “I’m very sorry, Sae-san.”

“That’s alright,” Sae said. “Makoto would have to find out sooner or later.”

“Sis, what the fuck?” Makoto whined. 

“Watch your language,” Sae scolded coldly. “Why can't I have a relationship?”

“You’re just dating some guy without me knowing. Is that why you asked me to clean my room? Is he going to be spending nights here? Are you two sleeping together?” 

Sae was clearly caught off guard by that question. “That’s none of your concern. Plus, I’m the older sister here. I should be concerned about you having sex, not the other way around.”

“Well, I’m not having sex,” Makoto said pointedly making Haru wince.

“I had assumed you two were,” Sae said glancing between the two of them.

This conversation had derailed faster than Haru had anticipated. She bit the inside of her cheek trying to contain her emotions. She didn’t want to blow up at Makoto but she was not about to have all of her dirty laundry aired out in front of Sae. At least, not at the dinner table.

“Don’t you dare say anything else on the subject,” Haru warned in a low voice. 

“You brought up that sis had a boyfriend and this is my fault?” Makoto asked incredulously.

“Why do you care so much?!” Haru yelled at her. “It doesn’t matter! I’m sorry, okay?! Just break up with me already if you're going to be like this. You won't even talk about it with me because you don't want to deal with your own emotions! You just... stop being a bitch, okay?!"

Makoto stared at her in stunned silence, unable to form a coherent thought.

“Excuse me,” Haru said standing up. There were tears in her eyes and her face was flushed. “I need to use the restroom.” She left the table and hurried down the hallway to the bathroom.

Makoto looked at the table with a blank stare. Everything was turning inside her. She’d expressed to Haru that she didn’t want to hear about Sae’s boyfriend if she had one, yet Haru had brought it up anyway. She felt she had the right to be mad about it. Of course, she had maybe been a little too sharp about the fact that they weren’t having sex. That was still very touchy for both of them. She hadn't meant for it to come out like that; she wanted to tell Sae the truth. She was mad at Sae and it had slipped out sounding angry.

“Makoto, perhaps you should go talk to her,” Sae said gently. “She seemed very upset.”

Makoto looked up at Sae blankly. “What am I going to say? She just said we should break up…”

“I don’t think she meant it seriously. You should at least say something to her if you both intend on going home tonight.”

Makoto looked away again and made no attempt to stand up from the table.

After another moment, Sae stood up. “You are being very immature, Makoto. I can’t say I’m proud of this behavior.” Sae walked down the hall towards the bathroom.

Haru was sitting on the floor of the bathroom sobbing. She had pulled her phone out and was ready to call Ren once she’d composed herself enough to actually talk. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to him once she got on the phone. Maybe he could come to pick her up and she could spend the night with him.

“Haru-chan,” Sae called gently through the door, “are you alright?”

Haru wiped at her eyes. Makoto hadn’t even come to check on her? “I-I’m okay, Sae-san,” Haru called weakly. “I’ll be o-out in a m-moment.”

“Do you need me to bring you anything?”

“Th-that’s alright.”

There was no response from the other side of the door and Haru figured Sae had left. Haru leaned her head back against the wall. She’d calmed down enough, but her tears had yet to come to a close. She called Ren and he didn’t answer. Then she remembered that Futaba had said maybe they’d go out to the movies that evening. He was probably in a movie.

That was just karma, wasn’t it? She was always saying how she didn’t need Ren to protect her. Didn’t she always say she could take care of herself? The one time she felt she actually needed him, he wasn’t around. She wondered if she should try calling someone else. She didn’t feel comfortable going home alone and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go home with Makoto.

She decided to call Ann next. In her line of friends, Ann was probably the next most trustworthy. Also, Haru realistically didn’t have that many options. Ann was going to have to work.

Ann picked up after what felt like ages. “Hey, Haru! You never call me. What do you need?”

“W-Were you busy?” Haru practically whispered into the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Ann asked, immediately picking up on the serious tone. 

“I’m at Sae-san’s house and Makoto and I got into a very big argument,” Haru continued to whisper. “I tried calling Ren but he didn’t answer.”

“Do you need me to come get you?” Ann asked gently. “Are you planning on staying at your house or do you need somewhere to stay?”

“I don’t know all the details yet... I just needed a calm voice. I’ll call you back in a few minutes telling you the details.”

“Okay, Haru. I’ll be waiting.”

Haru hung up and got to her feet. She splashed some water onto her face and then took several deep breaths. This was partially her fault for bringing up Sae’s boyfriend, but Makoto didn’t have to keep bringing up the sex thing. It wasn’t like that was an easy subject to swallow at the moment. And she had said it so sharply... Haru opened the bathroom door to Makoto standing right outside it. 

Makoto’s eyes widened and she took a step backward. “Sorry, I came to check on you.”

“After your sister did,” Haru mumbled. She closed off her body language and turned slightly away.

“I… was afraid you didn’t want to hear my voice… You seemed very mad.”

“I’m not mad… I just… why did you have to say we weren't having sex like that? Are you not going to be happy until we do it?”

Makoto shook her head. “I didn't mean it like that and I'm happy now,” Makoto murmured. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like I’m not.”

“Makoto, you know I can’t give you that right now. If it’s easier for you, then we should just break up.”

“I don’t want to do that, though,” Makoto said quickly, grabbing Haru’s hand.

Haru looked away. “Then are you going to wait for me? If it ever happens.”

“I want to…”

“But can you? You can’t be subtly making jabs at me like this. It hurts. It’s not like I’m happy about this situation either. You’re not the one who has to live with these memories. Do you think that I don’t wish I could do things without being terrified? This isn't fun for me. I'm not doing this to tease or torment you. I wish I could share intimate moments with you and allow my body to feel good.”

Makoto looked down at her feet. “I-I’m sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that.”

“I won’t be spending the night at the house tonight,” Haru said quietly.

Makoto’s head snapped up. “Haru, please…”

“Just for tonight,” Haru explained. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Please respect my wishes.”

“Where will you be at least?”

“I’m going to be staying with Ren. Ann is going to come to take me there.”

“Oh…”

Haru took a step closer to Makoto. “I want us to both think about this a lot tonight, okay? You need to figure out what you want. I do too. We can talk in the morning.”

Makoto nodded solemnly. “I understand. I think I’ll spend the night here then. I should… explain some things to sis.” She sighed heavily.

“Please don’t tell her everything.”

“I won’t.”

Haru nodded and gave Makoto a quick and gentle hug before pulling away. “I’m going to go to your room and call Ann.” Without waiting for an answer, she went to Makoto’s room and closed the door.

 

Haru sat in Ren’s bed, scrolling through her phone. She was leaned up against the wall, a pillow clutched in her arms. It smelled like Ren and that brought her some form of comfort. Her head was circling with very dark thoughts, ones that she hadn't had in a long while. She couldn’t seem to get Sugimura off of her mind. He had been right, hadn’t he? She was never going to be worth anything to anyone if she didn’t have sex with them. Sex was just a means to an end. A barter in exchange for love. She shook her head. No, that was just the bad thoughts talking. She wished she could just rewind to a few weeks ago before everything had happened. They’d been happy then, hadn’t they? Maybe she could tell Makoto before everything happened and then things would be okay now.

She looked up when she heard Ren climbing the stairs. He was alone. Futaba must’ve gone home. She heard his cat meowing loudly as it thudded up the stairs. Ren flicked on the lights and set his jacket down on the table. Just as he was about to take off his shirt, he noticed Haru sitting on his bed. “Oh, Haru?”

“Hi, Ren.”

“I saw you called but you didn’t leave a message or even text me. I didn’t think it was an emergency. Are you alright?”

Haru shook her head slowly. “Makoto and I got into a fight.”

“Haru, I’m so sorry…” He moved to the bed and sat down on the edge. “What happened?”

“I asked Sae-san if she had a boyfriend. Makoto got all testy when Sae-san said she did. Then Makoto just had to bring up the fact that we weren’t having sex. I kind of blew up at her….”

Ren nodded slowly. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m spending the night. Ann brought me over. Makoto is spending the night with her sister. I’m just staying for tonight.”

He nodded again. “Alright. We can talk more in the morning. We should both get some rest.”

“I don’t have to take the bed… I can use the couch.”

“I’m fine on the couch. No worries.” He got up again, pulled off his shirt, and shimmied out of his pants so he could to change into his pajamas.

Haru watched him, her interest peaking. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen Ren get changed. She’d seen Ren in just a towel at times. This time felt a little different, though. She wanted to touch him. She wanted him to touch her. She wanted to know what it felt like and if she could let him.

“R-Ren, would it be weird if you lied in bed with me for a little while?” Haru asked.

Ren shrugged. “Not weird if you don’t think it’s weird.” He turned off the lights and then fell into bed beside her.

Haru curled up beside him and Ren wrapped his arms around her tightly. He took a deep breath and she followed suit. He wasn’t as dense as Makoto; he was muscular but not as much as she was. She could feel the tone in his arms but his stomach and chest were very soft against her. She buried her face into his chest and took another deep breath. He smelled like coffee just like he always did.

"Do you love me, Ren?" Haru asked quietly. "I mean, like... love, love me."

Ren was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I do. I really do love you."

“Why didn’t we go out?”

He shrugged. “You never seemed like you wanted to.”

“You never seemed like you wanted to, either. At least not seriously.”

“I feel like I know too much about your past. You didn’t seem to be interested in men.”

Haru pressed tighter up against him. “That’s very fair…”

“Are you finally falling for me?” he asked playfully. His finger began to draw small circles on her back.

“No,” she said bluntly. “I am very sad. I want to make Makoto happy. I don’t want to put stress on her over something that I feel is so trivial. I don’t want to be alone. I thought it might be nice if I were to touch you and let you touch me. Maybe it would fix something.”

“I mean, we are touching.”

Haru rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean, Ren.”

“You don’t want to do anything you’ll regret,” he said softly. "And you don't have to prove anything to me."

“I know. It might be nice. Maybe I should’ve gotten to know Makoto more. Maybe we rushed into this too fast. I’ve known you for years and you’ve taken care of me. I feel comfortable with you.”

“You don’t feel comfortable with Makoto?”

“I do but not in a way where it would be possible for us to have sex. I feel like I could with you.”

“Have sex with me?” he asked clearly caught off guard.

Haru blushed and was happy that her face was tucked away in his chest. “Okay, maybe not all the way, but further than I feel I could go with Makoto.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I have no idea. There’s really no way to find out. We’re both in relationships.”

Ren was silent for a moment. “True. You wouldn’t want to cheat on Makoto.”

“And you wouldn’t want to cheat on Ryuji?” she prompted gently.

“If I asked, he’d probably be okay with it, honestly. I’ve slept with Ann before. Before she started dating Shiho that is.”

Haru propped herself up on her arm so she could look down at him. “Wait, you slept with Ann?”

“Yeah, a couple of times. It was really nice. She is… very hot.”

Haru let out a soft snort. She didn’t need him to go into detail about sleeping with Ann. “I didn’t know.”

“You might be surprised to find out that it doesn’t come up a lot. I feel like it made Ann and me closer for some reason. Then again she did—”

“Please don’t finish that,” Haru cut in quickly, clamping a hand over his mouth. She felt him smile and she pulled her hand away. “Have you slept with any of our other friends?”

“Yusuke. Once.”

“You didn’t,” Haru said with a gasp.

“It was one time and it was really quick. That didn’t make us any closer, that’s for sure. It might have made us even weirder for a few weeks.”

“Wow, Ren. I’m surprised you didn’t try to sleep with me.”

“I would never force that on you.”

She drew a small circle on his chest. “I might’ve been more perceptive to the idea if you asked me. Do you want to sleep with me?”

“I’ve thought about it." He paused when she raised an eyebrow at him. "Not like that. I meant I thought asking you. Before you met Makoto, I might’ve asked you. I dropped it after you started to go out, though.”

“But… it would’ve been a one-time thing.”

“Not necessarily. I suppose that would depend on how well you and Ryuji enjoyed the idea of all three of us together.”

“I don’t think I could… date Ryuji.”

“That’s completely fair. He’s a lot in a lot of ways.”

She sighed. “What am I going to do, Ren? It might take me a while to build up the courage to have sex with her and have me be okay with it. I don’t know if she wants to wait. I don’t want to lose her.”

“I think you two just need—”

Haru kissed Ren, cupping his face in her hands. She wasn’t sure why, but in the moment it felt right. He didn’t kiss her back right away and then slowly he eased into it. He put his hand against her shoulder and rolled her onto her back, moving so he was now slightly on top of her. Her heart started to pound. Was she already panicking? No… No, this was good pounding. Her body relaxed even further. Ren would never hurt her. He would never take advantage of her.

Ren sat up and removed his shirt, tossing it casually on the floor. Haru stared up at him; her arms flopped above her head now. He was something else entirely. She’d never seen a boy as amazingly beautiful as he was. His dark grey eyes were large and held an innocence that she knew he no longer had. He was toned but not muscular like Makoto was. All of his muscles were soft under his skin, only revealing themselves when he flexed. 

Haru sat up with him. She reached out and touched his stomach; there was some squish to it, evidence of all the curry he ate. Her hands traveled upwards over his chest. One hand came to rest on his chest over his heart and the other continued upwards to rest curved around his neck. She could feel his steady breathing. She swallowed hard, leaned in, and kissed him again.

This kiss was hungrier. Haru was a little surprised by Ren’s enthusiasm in the kiss; there were apparently some repressed feelings on his side as well. She moved into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. His hands came to rest on her hips. Haru’s shirt had slipped up slightly and she could feel his hands on her skin. He was so incredibly warm. She felt like she could melt into him. She pulled up her shirt and let his hands fully touch her. She pressed into him tighter. She wanted to feel his warmth everywhere on her. It engulfed her. She didn’t want to stop.

Ren lay backward, pulling Haru down with him onto the bed. The force of falling forward knocked her back into reality. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. His skin was too warm against hers now, like she was playing too close to a fire. What was she doing? She planted her hands on either side of his head and lifted herself up slightly. They were both breathing heavily.

“Have you worked it out yet?” he asked his head cocked to the side and a dopey smile on his face. 

She almost wanted to smack that stupid smile off of his face. He was idiotic and amazing and attractive and infuriating. He was too much like Makoto and nothing like her all at once. Her head hurt and guilty feelings were starting to rise up in her. Was her stomach churning because of the sex or the guilt? She couldn't tell. “I don’t know what I want,” she mumbled.

“We can keep going.”

She bit her lip uncertainly. The thought was enticing. It was what she'd set out to do, wasn't it? To see if it was okay. To see if she could do it. Her chest felt heavy. Why was she pushing herself again? She had nothing to prove to him. The uncomfortableness of the situation was already starting to catch up with her as her body involuntarily reacted to his. She was going to go under soon and the guilt of the whole thing wasn't going to help when she did. There was no reason to continue. She didn't have to if she didn't want to. But maybe somewhere deep down she did want to. Her body just wouldn't let her.

“I’ll only do what you ask me to,” he said pulling her out of her thoughts. 

“I can’t do this to Makoto,” she said quietly. “She deserves better than me. I can’t make out with you and both of us still call ourselves her friends.”

“I’ll only do what you ask me to,” he repeated. 

Haru sat back with a sigh. She could feel the bulge in his pants under her and she jumped off of him like she'd been burned. She huddled against the wall, pulling a pillow tight against herself. “I’m sorry for getting you all worked up for nothing. I think we’re done here.”

Ren sat up and nodded. “No need to be sorry. You’re working through some things.” He reached to touch her but realized how scared she looked. He pulled his hand back again and offered her a gentle smile instead. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. I might be a minute so if you want to fall asleep, go ahead.” He stood up and Haru could fully see his erection in his pants. She crossed her legs tightly.

She watched him walk down the stairs and heard the bathroom door close. She sighed again, allowing herself to slump against the wall. Who was she trying to kid? Ren was still a boy. She wouldn't have been able to sleep with him, even if she wanted to. If he had just opened a condom, it would’ve been enough to ruin everything. There was no way he was ever going to get inside her, if he could even get her clothes off first. Maybe she would never be what Makoto needed. If she couldn't sleep with Ren, then who could she? He was the only person in the world she'd trust with her life. At the same time, Ren had been right before as he always was. If Makoto couldn't accept Haru as she was, then she wasn't the right girl for Haru. And that was okay.

Now she was going have to tell Makoto everything that had happened. She hit her head against the wall. Life sucked.

 

Haru woke up in Ren’s bed, a commotion coming from downstairs waking her up. Ren wasn’t with her but she was bundled up under several blankets. She must’ve fallen asleep before he’d come back from the bathroom. How long had he been gone? Her head felt a little fuzzy and her lips were a bit chapped from kissing him the night before. She looked around the room. Ren wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Ren, just let me upstairs already.”

Haru turned her attention to the stairs. That was Makoto’s voice. Was Makoto was already there to see her? Haru reached for her phone and saw she had several missed calls and texts from Makoto. It was only nine in the morning.

“Ren, why won’t you just let me see her?” Makoto asked.

“She was sleeping and I want her to rest,” Ren’s voice responded. “She had a rough night.”

Haru heard several steps up the stairs. One set was clearly Makoto’s clunky combat boots and the other was Ren’s feet still in socks. 

“I was there. I know it was a rough night,” Makoto said sharply. “Just let me see her.”

Several more steps up the stairs followed. Their voices were closer now.

“Makoto, what good is it if you wake her?” Ren continued. 

There was a brief stutter on the stairs. One of them must've pushed the other, but Haru couldn’t tell which side it came from.

“Ren, I am this close to punching you in the face. I don’t want to do that. Let me see her.”

The two of them bundled into the room. Ren was in front of Makoto being forced up the stairs while she moved forward. Her eyes caught Haru’s and she frowned.

Makoto jerked a thumb at Ren. “Call him off, please. I’m not going to do anything. I just want to see you.”

Haru’s eyes flickered to Ren’s and she gave a slight nod. Ren backed off with a weary expression. Makoto straightened up. She shot a glare at Ren, kicked off her boots, and then moved to the bed.

“Good morning, Haru,” Makoto said politely. “Sorry for… this.” She gestured to Ren. “I thought he was going to be less protective.”

Haru sat up, pulling the blankets tightly around herself. “Hi, Makoto. I wasn’t expecting you this early.”

“In my defense, I did call and text. You just weren’t answering. I got a little worried. You always answer my calls. Or respond to them in a timely manner.”

“She was asleep,” Ren muttered. “Like I said.”

“Ren,” Haru said gently, “shush. Can you wait downstairs, please?”

He seemed unenthused to leave the room but did so when Haru shot him a pleading look. “Call me if you need anything,” he called over his shoulder as he descended the stairs.

Haru sighed and looked up at Makoto with sad eyes. “I have a confession. Ren and I made out last night.”

Makoto tilted her head to the side. “Why?”

“I felt awful… I wanted to see if things would go better with Ren. If he could… fix this. It was nice for the first half. We kissed and he was perfect.”

“Ouch,” Makoto said quietly. 

“In the end, he’s still a boy. Boys get aroused. We stopped before it got anywhere. It’s not like I could’ve anyway. I kind of wanted to.”

“You wanted to sleep with Ren but not with me?”

“It’s not like that, Makoto. I tried with Ren because if it was going to be anyone it would be him. I still couldn’t do it…”

“So you’ll never be able to sleep with me?”

Haru played with the edge of the blanket. “I don’t know if never is the right word. I’ve known Ren for years and the idea of sleeping with him is one I can stomach.”

Makoto sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at her feet thoughtfully. She didn't say anything.

Haru was silent for a moment, hoping Makoto would say something. When she didn't, Haru murmured, “Do with that information what you will. I believe we both rushed into this relationship. If we had been friends longer, I feel I would’ve been more okay with certain things.”

Makoto nodded and let out a big sigh. “Well, I wasn't having fun last night either. I had a long talk with my sister about her boyfriend, thank you for that.”

Haru winced. “I’m really sorry for bringing it up… That was my fault.”

“It’s fine. He seems like a fine man. I don’t really care, honestly. It’s her life. She’s not taking care of me anymore. She can be happy if she wants.”

“Then why were you so upset about it?”

“I don’t know. The idea of sis having a good relationship with a man irritates me because I can’t. That’s really stupid, but like… my sister is already perfect. If dad was still alive, he wouldn’t be proud of me… He’d be proud of her. He’d hate me, I know that. She always was and always will be the perfect daughter. I thought if she never got married or had kids then that would just be a little bit of a win for me. Like, I might be dating a girl but at least I found love.” Makoto looked at Haru tears in her eyes.

Haru jumped on Makoto and pulled her down onto the bed. “I love you so much,” she whispered, kissing Makoto’s forehead.

Makoto chuckled, only a couple of tears rolling down her cheeks. She grabbed Haru’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “I feel like I should be mad about you kissing Ren, but it’s also Ren… He’s more like your brother than your lover. Also, he’d stick his penis in a paper bag if it flirted with him so it probably wasn't hard to get him to kiss you.”

Haru laughed out of pure shock from the statement. “I know that it’s true, but please don’t ever say that again.” Haru cupped Makoto’s face in her hands and smiled. “It wasn’t anything,” she assured Makoto. “I was very sad and he’s… very comforting when he’s not constantly tormenting me. Which he had this stupid grin on his face anyway and I was about ready to smack him. I can understand if you’re mad, but we didn’t do anything. We only kissed. Ren and I have done that before.”

Makoto nodded. “I’m not mad. I’m upset that you think he’s better than me.” She sat on top of Haru and pinned her wrists to the bed. “I am the best kisser. You’d better say it or I’ll tickle you.”

Haru giggled. “You’re the best kisser! You’re the best kisser!” She tried to wriggle free of Makoto’s grasp but was finding it too hard and Makoto was too heavy to throw off. Makoto’s hands were starting to hurt her wrists. She winced. “Off, please.”

Makoto moved off of her quickly. “Sorry. Are you alright?”

Haru nodded and took in a deep breath. “Nothing to worry about.” She looked up at Makoto. “I’m sorry. You mean a lot to me and I truly want you to be happy.”

“I want you to be happy too,” Makoto said with a nod.

“If you want to break up, I completely understand. I don’t blame you for wanting to have an intimate sexual relationship. It’s neither of our faults that things are this way. I also don't think I need to be... fixed. I think I'm okay as I am and if that's not okay with you then...”

Makoto shrugged. “We could break up but I see no point in it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I still love you a lot. I still want to be with you. You see… I thought we’d have sex like any other couple and then we’d move on. I wanted to know that my attraction to women was okay. I don’t know… I just thought that having sex would validate me. I thought hard about it last night and talked to sis. You're right that you don't need to be fixed. You are fine as you are. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do for me. I'll respect all of your boundaries, whatever they may be, for as long as you need me to.”

“Makoto…” Haru murmured breathlessly.

Makoto smiled brightly. “Plus, it's not like you're forbidding me from having a sexual thought or, you know, taking care of myself.” She gave Haru a wink. "I'm already doing that so might as well just continue."

Haru blushed and buried her face in her hands. “Makoto, you really always know how to ruin a moment.”

Makoto laughed and pulled Haru’s hands away from her face. “But I have been. I wouldn’t lie about that. Look at the honesty in this face.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Haru said patting Makoto on the cheek. “I also don’t need to know.”

Makoto cuddled up close to Haru again. “I love when you get all bright red."

Haru's blush deepened. "Don't make fun of me."

Makoto smiled. "Are we going to be okay?”

“Maybe. We just… need to see how it goes. We’re okay now. That’s good.”

Makoto kissed her gently. Maybe it was Ren’s bed or maybe Haru was just feeling at ease for the first time in a few days, but when Makoto touched her bare stomach she felt calm and wrapped her arms around Makoto in return. 


	11. A Birthday For A Very Special Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi this is fuzzy and warm and i hope you enjoy it uwu  
> next chapter will hopefully be going up for christmas eve/maybe the new year~<3

Makoto came sprinting into the living room, slipped on the floor as she tried to stop herself, and fell hard onto her side. Haru, who was seated on a pillow at the table, watched her with wide eyes over the rim of her coffee cup. Haru was more shocked that someone who was doing a lot of physical training didn't have more coordination than she was to have seen Makoto take a fall like that. It was still much too early for Makoto to be getting into these kinds of shenanigans. Haru hadn’t even finished her morning coffee yet.

“Are you alright?” Haru asked with a shake of her head and a smitten smile on her face. "You really shouldn't run in the house with socks on." For whatever smart façade Makoto put on, she sure was an idiot. But she was Haru's idiot. Then again, maybe Shiho and Ren were really rubbing off on her too much.

Makoto had crawled over to the table and planted her hands on it to hoist herself up onto her knees. She didn't seem to be in any pain as Haru had expected. “Haru,” she said pointing a finger.

Haru raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“It’s your birthday today,” Makoto continued. She seemed to have composed herself a little more and took a sip from the coffee cup that was on her side of the table. Haru had lovingly prepared it for her when she’d made her own cup.

Haru blinked in surprise. “Oh… yeah. I guess I was born today. Not that it’s anything special.” She took a sip of her coffee to avoid speaking on it further.

“The most beautiful woman to be born to humanity—and also my girlfriend—was born today. I’d say that’s kind of a big deal.”

Haru blushed. “Makoto, that’s really cheesy and you know it. Who told you anyway?”

“Well, Ren, of course.” Makoto finally seated herself properly and settled down. She rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. “He just asked if we had any plans tonight. I was, of course, confused because why would Ren be concerned if we had any plans tonight? Also, why would he ask me that when he could ask you? Then he told me it was your birthday, which you had failed to mention to me beforehand.”

Haru rolled her eyes at the tale. “Of course Ren told you.” She sighed and took on a more pleading tone. “Listen, can’t we just have a nice night in? We can get some sushi and watch a movie.”

Makoto looked put out. “I didn’t even get you a gift.”

“Your love is the greatest gift I could ever receive.” Haru reached out across the table with a tender smile. Makoto joined hands with her, but her face still stayed in the same pout.

“Now who’s being cheesy?” Makoto murmured with a roll of her eyes. She straightened up again. “Besides, what if I wanted to get you a gift? As your girlfriend, I feel like I should be allowed.”

Haru chuckled. “You know you sound absolutely ridiculous, right? I don't particularly need any gifts.”

“That may be true, but why didn’t you tell me when your birthday was?”

“Well, you never… asked. Also, I don’t care much for my birthday the way other people do.” Haru raised her eyebrows and took another very pointed sip of her coffee.

Makoto let out a short breath through her nose. “Fine. Make me the worst girlfriend in the history of the world for not getting you anything.”

“Makoto,” Haru warned gently, “don’t start that. I told you that I want a quiet night in where we eat sushi and watch a movie. It can even be one of those action movies you have queued up.”

“Can it at least be nice sushi?” Makoto conceded.

Haru looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess. But I’m not leaving the house to go get it.”

Makoto crossed her arms. “You’re killing me, Haru. You’re killing your girlfriend.”

Haru laughed and stood up from the table. “I have work. You have class. Figure out your plans as long as it involves my butt in that couch later tonight.”

As she scooted around the table, she planted a kiss on the top of Makoto’s head and wrapped her arm around Makoto’s neck to give her a small hug. Makoto kissed Haru’s arm in response. She made a slightly disgruntled noise but didn’t argue any further. Haru giggled and gave her another kiss on the head.

She dropped her mug off in the kitchen then grabbed her coat off the hook by the front door. “I’ll be home later tonight,” Haru called. “Can you please, please, please do the dishes for me?”

Makoto had fallen backward and was looking at Haru upside down. “I will. And I’ll clean up my laundry in the bedroom.”

Haru smiled brightly. “That is truly the best gift you could give me for my birthday. I love you, Mako-chan!”

“Love you too,” Makoto said with a small wave and a smile.

Haru ducked out of the apartment and skipped her way down to Leblanc. It was chillier outside than she had been expecting, but it didn’t faze her. She felt warm inside, Makoto having brightened up her morning. Haru normally didn’t care much for her birthday—it wasn't special to her like it was to other people—but Makoto had given her a little bit of hope that this one would be pleasant.

The bell in the shop tinkled and she spotted Ren behind the counter. “You’re in big trouble, young man,” she said to him without pausing in her path towards his room. Ren barely looked up from the cup of coffee he was making. Haru continued up to Ren’s room and took off her jacket. She switched into her work shoes and pulled on her apron. As she was still tying up her hair, she returned to the café and pushed behind the counter. Ren received a sharp poke in the chest from her.

“Ow,” he said, overdramatically clutching at his heart, “that hurt.”

“You told Makoto it was my birthday,” Haru said. She poked his chest again.

He took a long sip of his coffee, eyeing Haru over the top of it; Haru tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for him to speak. “You weren’t going to,” he finally said as he set his cup down.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell her. It just hadn’t crossed my mind. I kind of forgot it was my birthday today.”

Ren crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “Right. I told her so it would remind you.”

“She practically broke her neck to come to tell me,” Haru said rolling her eyes. “Now she wants to do something tonight.”

He poked her in the nose. “It might not be as bad as you think. Stop being such a grouch.”

“I’m not being a grouch,” Haru grumbled. “You’re the backstabber here.”

Ren chuckled. “Whatever you say. Can you imagine if she found out after your birthday? How bad she’d feel for missing it?”

“Why are you always right?” she said with a large sigh.

He smirked. “I’m the smartest person I know.”

She smacked him hard on the back. “You’re stupid that’s for sure.”

He laughed. “Time for work!”

The day at the café passed as it usually did. There was a small rush around lunchtime and then the traffic died down once again. Ann and Shiho stopped by for a couple of drinks and to wish Haru a happy birthday. Ann gave Haru a charm bracelet. Shiho gave Haru a kiss on the cheek and said she’d helped Ann pick out the bracelet. Haru laughed and said that it was okay if Shiho didn’t get her a gift. Yusuke stopped by and his birthday wish was accompanied by a painting that Haru thought was… interesting. Futaba and Sojiro stopped in and wished Haru a happy birthday as well, but mostly they were both just a little early for their shifts to start. 

Overall it was a pleasant day and carefree day. Now she just wanted to go home and relax with Makoto and some sushi. She wondered if Makoto would hold up her promise to get something nice. Haru wasn’t too picky in her sushi, but it would be nice to indulge herself for once. Normally they just got something cheap whenever they were in the mood. She was almost excited about it, her mouth watering at the thought. Then again, Makoto had a habit of ruining the moment. There was a good chance she didn’t do what Haru had asked of her. She sighed and leaned her head in her hand. Her eyes closed.

Ren, sitting on a stool on the other side of the counter, knocked her arm gently. He laughed when she jerked up with a gasp. “No sleeping at work,” he teased.

“You’re lucky I don’t have the will to jump over this counter and strangle you,” she muttered. 

Haru lifted her attention to the door as the bell tinkled. Makoto came walking in, her head held high as if she was proud of something. She sat down at the counter and looked at Haru with a broad smile. “Hey, you come here often?”

Haru rolled her eyes with a smile. “If you didn't notice, I work here. So, yes, I do come here often. Did you come to walk me home?”

Makoto nodded, bouncing back quickly from Haru completely shooting down her attempt at flirting. “I wouldn’t let you walk home by yourself on your birthday.”

“Thank God,” Haru said with a large sigh. She rubbed her forehead. “Ren has been tormenting me all day.”

Makoto turned in her chair and looked at Ren with a serious expression. “Have you been bullying her again?”

“All in gentle fun,” Ren said with a smirk. “What are you going to do about it?”

Makoto grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him slightly towards her. It actually made Ren let out a quiet gasp as he was caught off guard by her serious demeanor. “Do you want to find out?”

Ren laughed, already completely composed. “That’s quite alright. I hope you have a lovely night tonight.”

Makoto flicked him in the forehead and then released him. She turned back to Haru. “Ready to go?”

Haru nodded slightly. “Let me go grab my stuff from upstairs.” She moved out from behind the counter and scurried up the stairs.

Makoto looked at Ren with a frown. “Why are you picking on her so much today?”

“I didn’t think it was any more than usual,” he murmured. “I knew she was in a bad mood but I thought my teasing might lighten her up a bit.”

“Clearly not, stupid,” she grumbled. She let out a sigh. “Should I bother asking why she doesn’t like her birthday?”

“For once, there isn’t a tragic backstory to this,” he responded as if this were a good thing. “She’s never really celebrated her birthday. I think it mostly bothers her when other people try to make her celebrate and treat it like a really special day. She’s just not into it.”

Makoto looked disheartened. “So it’s my fault?”

“No, no. She actually sounded excited to have dinner with you tonight. I think she’s looking forward to it.” He shrugged. “It’s just not really her thing. I don’t think her family ever celebrated birthdays so I think she doesn’t get why it’s a big deal. I mean, she could have anything she wanted any day of the year. Why would they pick one specific day to make that happen?”

“Is there anything in Haru’s life that isn’t ruined and she actually enjoys?” 

“Christmas Eve is coming up,” Ren offered. “She loves Christmas Eve. She thinks it's really romantic going and looking at lights or whatever.”

Makoto perked up. “Really? That’s surprising.”

Haru came pounding down the stairs before Ren could respond. She was bundled up in a coat, a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, and a large hat with floppy parts that hung over her ears. She looked more ready to go on an expedition to the North Pole than she did to brave the short walk back to the apartment. Makoto smiled when she saw her. She was just too adorable.

“Well, I’ll see you later, Ren,” Makoto said standing up. She gave him a clap on the shoulder and a smile.

“Bye, Ren,” Haru said with a smile. She looked much happier than she had before she’d gone up the stairs and she easily slipped her hand into Makoto's. “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye-bye,” Ren said as he waved them out of the shop.

As they walked, Haru moved so she was gripping Makoto’s entire arm and clutching it close to her chest. She pecked Makoto on the cheek. Makoto smiled and welcomed the warm gesture. Haru smelled like coffee and curry and it made Makoto feel like she was home.

“Are you in a good mood?” Makoto asked quietly. Her breath came out in a puff of steam.

Haru nodded. “I’m really excited to eat sushi at home with you.” She squeezed Makoto’s arm tightly and nuzzled her. “I’m also excited to go home.”

Makoto chuckled. “You’re in for a real treat when we get home then.”

Haru looked at her with a curious look but Makoto just smiled in return. Haru gave her another kiss on the cheek, hoping that would bring something out of her but she remained silent for the rest of the walk.

Makoto stood in front of the door to their apartment when they arrived. She gave Haru a broad smile. “Okay, would you be willing to wait outside for just one moment while I finish getting everything ready inside?”

Haru looked skeptical. “Did you forget to do the dishes and don’t want me to find out?”

“No, no!” Makoto said with a laugh. “I just want to make sure everything is perfect and I couldn’t leave some stuff out while we weren't home. So, if it’s alright, I’ll be right back.” Makoto bolted inside the house, closing the door behind her before Haru could say anything otherwise.

Haru sighed and leaned against the railing outside. She looked up at the dark sky, watching her breath make small clouds. Normally, waiting outside wouldn’t be an issue. Makoto must’ve forgotten how freezing it was outside. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and waited. What could Makoto possibly have to get set up that she didn't want Haru to see? Well, whatever. If the surprise was good enough, Haru could forgive her for literally leaving her out in the cold.

Makoto opened the door only a few minutes later. “All set!” She held open the door for Haru.

The apartment was dark, only the flickering of candles and a dim light in the other room illuminating the place. Haru could tell that everything had been tidied though. She didn’t see a single thing on the floor or couch in the living room that wasn’t supposed to be there, and the things that were had been put back properly. The air smelled fresh and clean. The whole house felt warm and welcoming.

Haru turned to Makoto in surprise. “You cleaned the whole house? How did you have time?”

“I may have left class a little early to make sure I could get back in time,” Makoto responded with a smile. 

She helped Haru out of her coat and shoes then led her gently to the living room. She sat her down at the table, which had already been set. One tray of sushi sat on either side of the table. When Haru was seated, she noticed that the tray in front of her was filled with all of the sushi that she liked and it was of the expensive variety. She couldn’t believe Makoto had actually done what she had asked of her. Her heart was about ready to explode with happiness.

Haru looked around completely awestruck. She almost felt like she could cry, she was so overcome with happiness. She took a deep breath to steady herself before speaking. “Makoto, this is… amazing. I never thought that you would go to these lengths... Just for my silly birthday.”

Makoto smiled and poured wine for Haru. “It wasn’t much. I wanted this to be really special for you.” She looked a little sheepish at the praise and rubbed the back of her neck.

“I love you so much,” Haru said with a bright smile.

“Let’s eat,” Makoto cheered and the two dug into their meals.

By the end of it, Haru was fairly buzzed and feeling very good. Makoto was much soberer. Haru was just bad at drinking wine, Makoto discovered. The two moved to the couch and cuddled up under the blanket. Makoto was lying down with Haru almost completely on top of her. Makoto turned on a movie in the background. Watching the movie didn’t last very long as Haru quickly moved on to kissing Makoto. Her kisses were light and bubbly. She couldn’t stop giggling into them, which made Makoto giggle with her. 

“This is the best birthday I’ve ever had,” Haru murmured into one of their kisses. One of her hands was tangled in Makoto’s hair while the other was pressed against Makoto’s shoulder, steadying herself.

“Yeah?”

Haru nodded enthusiastically almost knocking her head against Makoto’s. “I can’t remember a better one. Thank you so much.” Her lips met Makoto’s again.

Makoto smiled and pulled Haru tighter. She never wanted to let go. She wished she could freeze this moment in time. Haru was happy and that was all she could ever hope to achieve for her. Everything felt warm and fuzzy. She was pretty sure the alcohol was helping with that. “You’re wonderful, Haru,” Makoto mumbled. “I love you so much.”

After kissing more and watching some of the movie they had put on, Haru wrapped her arms around Makoto’s neck and whispered in her ear sleepily, “Carry me to the bedroom, please.”

Makoto nodded and sat up, pushing Haru off of herself. She got up then picked Haru up. Haru continued to kiss her as Makoto carried her to the bedroom. She must’ve still been drunk. Makoto sighed but wasn't about to do anything about it. Haru's headache in the morning was going to be enough of a punishment for drinking that last glass when Makoto told her to hold off.

She set Haru down and Haru skipped over to the bed to grab her pajamas. She started to clumsily get changed and Makoto watched her for a moment just to make sure that she wouldn't fall over. When Makoto figured Haru was good on her own, she started to change as well. Makoto didn’t very far in getting ready for bed. She’d taken off her shirt and put on pajama pants, but then she flopped into bed and closed her eyes. She figured she might just go to bed like that. A sports bra and pajama pants seemed like valid pajamas. Maybe it would be a little cold, but Haru would be more than enough to keep her warm.

Haru climbed into bed and sat crosslegged watching Makoto. Makoto was lying still, one arm tucked up underneath her head and the other halfway down her pants. Haru wondered what she was thinking about. It was impossible to know. She sat forward a bit, her hands toying restlessly with the hem of her shirt. She wanted to cuddle with Makoto but figured she must’ve been tired after the long day she’d had getting everything ready. Makoto probably just wanted to rest. She bit her bottom lip as her eyes wandered up and down Makoto’s body.

Makoto opened one eye to peek up at her. She smiled. “What’s that face for?”

Haru blushed and looked away. “I… can I…” She gestured vaguely to all of Makoto. She felt embarrassed asking for something as simple as a cuddle. The alcohol was still making her thoughts blurry but she knew she wanted to be in Makoto's arms.

Makoto looked down at herself confused then looked back at Haru. She held her arms out and wiggled her fingers in a come here motion. “Is this what you want?”

Haru nodded and fell into Makoto’s arms a little more forcefully than she had intended.

Makoto laughed breathlessly, having the wind knocked out of her. “Eager, huh?”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Haru pouted. “It’s still my birthday.”

“I can’t make fun of you on your birthday now? I thought you didn't even really like your birthday.”

Haru pulled up from Makoto’s grasp and stared down at her with the most serious expression Makoto had seen all night. “Makoto, you are notorious for ruining moments. Don’t ruin this for yourself.”

“Fair enough,” Makoto said with a small laugh. She pulled Haru back down on top of her and gave her a tight squeeze before loosening up.

Haru looped her arms around Makoto’s neck and gave her a kiss. Then her mouth moved to Makoto’s jaw and she kissed along to Makoto’s ear. She whispered, “You're so red right now.”

Makoto’s blushed deepened. “Well, you’re the one who’s… um…” Makoto shifted slightly. Haru sure was distracting when she wanted to be.

“I want to kiss you. I love you so much, Makoto.”

“You’re also drunk," Makoto said mostly to herself. "I’ll keep that in mind for your sake. You’re such a cuddly drunk.”

Haru giggled. “I know…” She kissed Makoto’s jaw again and let her kisses trail down her neck to her shoulder. 

Makoto made a soft noise and gripped onto Haru’s shirt. She would have to make sure that Haru didn’t get herself too far along. It reminded Makoto of the very first night she'd ever spent with Haru. Haru was extremely loving and cuddly when she was drunk. They hadn’t kissed that night like they were now, but Haru had been all over her telling her how pretty she was and how much she loved her. That was definitely one of the weirder nights Makoto had ever had in her life. She never thought that she'd have one of the prettiest girls she'd ever seen crawling all over her telling her how attractive she was. It had almost felt like a dream.

Haru’s lips had moved closer to Makoto’s chest now, sneaking closer down to her bra. The sensation made Makoto jump slightly as she was pulled out of her thoughts.

“Easy, tiger,” Makoto said gently pushing Haru off of herself. She climbed on top of Haru to keep her down. 

“I want to kiss you though,” Haru whined, looping her arms around Makoto’s neck before Makoto could pin them down. “Make out with me.”

“We’ve been making out,” Makoto pointed out. She had to pull away from Haru trying to kiss her again. “I think it’s time for bed, you silly drunk.”

“I’m wide awake!” Haru pouted. “It’s my birthday. I’m going to hold my breath until you kiss me.” She took in a big gulp of air and puffed out her cheeks dramatically.

Makoto sighed. “If I give you one more kiss, will you go to bed?”

Haru nodded.

Makoto pinched Haru’s cheeks, forcing the air out of her mouth. Then she kissed her gently. “Okay. All done. Go to sleep now.”

“Will you at least hold me?” Haru murmured. “Please.”

“Of course. Let me get the lights.” Makoto got up from the bed and flipped the lights off. By the time she returned, Haru had already tucked herself underneath the covers. At least she was obedient when drunk. Makoto climbed back into bed with her and wrapped her arms tightly around her.

“Sorry I’m drunk,” Haru whispered. “Can I tell you something?”

“What is it?”

“I never thought that one day I’d be lying in bed with the girl of my dreams on my birthday,” Haru whispered. She sounded like she was already half asleep. “I didn’t even know there would be a girl of my dreams… I hope that I can make your birthday as special and magical as you’ve made mine. I want to make every day as special as this one. I’ll never be able to express how much I love you in words. You… make my life worthwhile.”

Makoto hugged Haru tighter, tears in her eyes. “I love you too,” she managed to whisper. “I love you so much. Happy birthday, Haru."


	12. Christmas Evening (T)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's fluffy christmas time!  
> so my plans for this are only a couple more chapters and they'll be kind of spaced out. one for valentine's day, one for makoto's birthday, and one for their one year anniversary in story. then i think ill be done with this particular fic.  
> not to worry, i have thoughts on other fics to write so i think ill keep writing stuff.

The door of the apartment clicked shut quietly as Haru entered. “I’m home,” she called softly into the dark and empty entryway. She didn’t want to actually announce her presence too loud, but it felt weird to not say it at all. She kicked her shoes off of her worn out feet. As usual, Ren’s hangout had gone a little bit later than expected and she was late coming home. It was already after midnight and Haru was one to get tired early on in the night. Hopefully, Makoto was still in the bedroom where she’d left her and she could just crawl into bed with her.

Haru quietly crept into the bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her. She was itching to go to bed. Using the flashlight from her phone, she searched around for her pajamas. She found them piled on the floor where Makoto must have pushed them off of the bed. She also found a half-eaten bowl of soup on the nightstand that she’d prepared for Makoto earlier. She rolled her eyes. Makoto was giving her tons of trouble in the eating department. Ignoring it, she started to get undressed as quietly as she could.

“Haru?” Makoto’s sleepy and congested voice came from the bed.

Haru sighed and flipped on the table lamp beside the bed. She could only see Makoto’s eyes peeking out from underneath the large blanket. “I’m sorry, Mako-chan,” she said gently. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to be quiet.”

Makoto’s eyes adjusted to the light but her vision was still a bit blurry. Haru had only been able to get down to her underwear before Makoto had called out to her. Makoto pulled the blanket tighter around herself, one of her hands clutching at her chest. Haru was so cute it almost brought tears to her eyes. How was such a beautiful girl her girlfriend? And how was Haru’s underwear always matching? The dark wine color looked nice on her. Makoto’s fuzzy mind did its best to take in all of Haru. 

“C-Cute,” Makoto said softly. She reached out and touched Haru’s thigh. “So cute…”

Haru gave her a sad smile. “Are you still that out of it?” She brushed Makoto’s bangs away from her face and kissed her forehead. “I think you’re still running a fever as well. I shouldn’t have gone out. I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” Makoto mumbled. “I’m fine. I’m sorry I couldn’t go out with you tonight.” She broke into an aggressive coughing fit, proving that she couldn't have gone out even if she wanted to. When she settled again, she had tears in her eyes. “Ow… My throat hurts.”

“I’ll get you some cold medicine so you can hopefully sleep through the night. You really need the sleep.”

Makoto nodded in response and watched Haru finish getting changed. Haru promptly left the room and Makoto pulled herself in tighter. Being sick was the worst thing ever. Haru was very attentive to her needs but also didn’t want to be in Makoto’s space too long. It was probably a mixture of wanting Makoto to sleep and not wanting to get sick herself. Both of those were fair points, but Makoto was incredibly lonely being cooped up in the house all day. Haru had forbidden her from going down the Leblanc for a visit as well. She’d been lying in bed for two days straight since a fever had taken over her. There were only so many anime and movies to watch. Plus, the fever made her thoughts muddy and it wasn’t like anything made sense anyway.

Haru came back in with the cold medicine. “Come on and sit up," she said in as kind a way as her tired body could manage. "Take this and then I want you to sleep.”

Makoto did as she was told figuring that any arguing would get her scolded. The cold medicine tasted foul, but it did soothe her throat a bit. She curled up under the blankets once again and settled in. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mako-chan. If your fever hasn’t broken by morning, I’m afraid you’ll have to go to the doctor.”

“At least I’ll be out of the house.”

Haru ruffled her hair and turned off the lamp. “Good night.” She left the room again, taking the soup bowl with her.

Makoto sighed. Hopefully, things would be better in the morning.

Makoto woke up well into the afternoon. Her head felt better though she was still congested and her throat was sore. Haru wasn’t with her, but that was to be expected seeing as it was already well past noon. She sat up only to find that she was drenched in sweat. “Gross,” she muttered aloud. Her voice didn't sound so hoarse anymore.

Slowly she climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. She found the thermometer that Haru had bought specifically for this bought of sickness—a thermometer wasn’t necessarily something one thought to own until one was sick with a fever. It came out with a normal reading. She heaved a relieved sigh. At least her fever was gone. She wouldn’t have to go to the doctor.

She moved to the living room next. She hadn’t seen it in two days and everything was perfectly neat and tidy. Haru had even set up a kotatsu that Makoto didn’t know they had or didn’t know that Haru had gone out to buy. In the kitchen, she found that all her dishes had been cleaned up and put away. There was a note from Haru sitting on the counter.

_I received a text from Ren and had to run to Leblanc. Should be back by 14:00. I’m so sorry I won’t be there when you wake up ): There is ramen in the cupboard that I bought for you. Please finish the entire thing even if you’re not that hungry! You need the energy. Love, Haru. PS I set up a kotatsu so feel free to enjoy it if you’re feeling up to it! I’d prefer if you didn’t sleep under it but I’m not there to stop you!_

Makoto smiled. Haru was so thoughtful. She started making her ramen and turned the kotatsu on. She crawled under it for a moment and almost instantly didn’t want to get up. It was so warm and comforting. She leaned her head against the table. Now if only she had Haru to lean on her… She sighed at the thought. Maybe Haru would be willing when she got home.

It was already close to when Haru said she would be returning home. After staying out late last night, she would probably want to be home on time today since Makoto was still sick technically. Makoto just had to wait, but that was always the worst part. Though, she did need a shower badly. Hopefully, she could clean up a little bit so Haru didn’t instantly push her away for how bad she smelled.

After retrieving her ramen from the kitchen, Makoto scarfed it down as quickly as she possibly could. Another good development was that her appetite seemed to have returned. She finished and figured she’d get a chance to enjoy the kotatsu once she smelled a bit nicer.

She made her way down to the bathroom and started up the shower. The warm water felt amazing on her sore body. It was also just nice to know all the grime from the last two days was being washed down the drain. She was about halfway through when she heard Haru’s voice call that she was home.

There was a soft knock on the door to the shower. “Mako-chan!” Haru said in a singsong. “Did you just wake up? Good morning, if you did.”

“You can come in if you want. I was just getting into the bath,” Makoto called as she splashed into the bathtub.

Haru pulled off her tights and went into the shower. She sat on the edge of the tub and smiled at Makoto brightly. “You look so much better today.”

Makoto smiled. “Thanks. I feel a lot better. The shower really helped me decongest, although I’m sure it’ll be back soon.”

Haru ran her hand through the water. “I can’t believe you drew yourself a whole bath. You never want to get in the bath. You only do it because I do.”

Makoto had a mischievous look in her eye. “Maybe I wanted to have my girlfriend catch me in the bath. Maybe I could convince her to come in with me.” She crossed her arms over her chest as if she was trying to be bashful. “Oh no, I can’t believe my girlfriend caught me in the tub. Whatever will we do?”

Haru giggled as she leaned closer to Makoto. “You might be able to convince me.” She poked Makoto on the nose.

Makoto blushed and averted her eyes from Haru’s gaze. It always caught her off guard when Haru flirted back. “What did Ren want?”

Haru rolled her eyes and leaned away again. She waved her hand in the air dismissively to convey that it wasn’t a big deal. “There was a short rush and Futaba didn’t want to come in. He just needed a little help with the dishes that were piling up. I can’t blame him. I was supposed to work today but someone got sick.”

Makoto looked down at the water. “Sorry.”

Haru laughed and pet Makoto on the head. “Don’t worry, Mako-chan. Did you eat?”

“Yeah, I ate some ramen and then took a shower because I smelled pretty bad. I didn’t want you to outright reject me when you saw me.”

“Aw, you’re always thinking of me, aren’t you?”

Haru put a finger under Makoto’s chin and tilted her head up. She leaned over and kissed her gingerly. It was the first actual kiss they’d shared in the last four days, not that Makoto was counting. Makoto savored it.

“Enjoy the rest of your bath,” Haru murmured as she pulled away. “I love you.”

Makoto’s heart skipped a beat. They had been dating for how long and still just the softest murmur of 'I love you' from Haru sent her reeling. She watched Haru tiptoe out of the room, doing her best not to slip on the slick floor. She was an actual goddess in the living world. Makoto desperately wanted to jump out of the bath and smother Haru in all the love and affection she could. Instead, she sunk lower in the bath. 

When Makoto made her way back into the living room, she found Haru sitting under the kotatsu reading a book. She had changed into a light long sleeved shirt that hung off one of her shoulders and her hair had been tied up. Makoto watched her uncertainly. Haru looked peaceful and beautiful. Makoto didn’t want to disturb her and break the beautiful scene. At the same time, the kotatsu was so enticing, especially since the apartment was cold and she’d just gotten out of her warm bath.

Haru glanced up at her, noticing Makoto hesitating at the edge of the room. “Oh! Come sit with me. I want to talk to you.” She held up the corner of the blanket and smiled at Makoto.

Makoto came and sat beside her. Haru leaned against her and took her hand underneath the blanket. Haru looked up at her with wide, beautiful eyes. Makoto’s heart nearly seized up.

“Wh-What did you want to talk about?” Makoto asked as she turned away. She could tell she was blushing.

“I know it’s still a week away, but do you have any plans for Christmas Eve? If you’re feeling better by then of course!”

Makoto laughed quietly. “That’s um…”

“I’m sorry.” Haru’s grip tightened around Makoto’s hand. “Was that too forward of me?”

Makoto laughed again. “I fully know you’re joking, but you’re such a convincing actress.” Makoto turned to Haru and gently lifted her chin up. “You know that we’re both girls, right? Girls don’t date other girls.”

Haru swallowed and her eyes got larger. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were a lesbian.”

Makoto smiled, trying to hold back her laughter. “Was it my combat boots or my love for women that gave you that idea?”

“Perhaps it’s the fact that you’ve been in a loving relationship with a woman for quite some time now. Much longer than I would think someone going through a phase would be in one.”

Makoto nodded. “That’s… very true. You know I could still be figuring things out. Maybe you’re just so attractive that I can’t help but stay in a relationship. Any person would want to be with you.” Haru smiled at that and Makoto leaned against her more. “Anyway, I’m all yours on Christmas Eve as long as you deem me well enough to go out.”

Haru pushed Makoto back on the floor and curled up tight to her side, her head coming to rest on Makoto’s shoulder. Makoto wrapped her arms around Haru on instinct.

“I’m still sick,” Makoto murmured. She coughed involuntarily but it punctuated her point.

“I know you’ve been lonely,” Haru said gently, “because I’ve been staying away from you. You do realize, though, that I also am a bit lonely, right? Having to sit out in the living room by myself and read is not as fun as having you watching anime behind me while I read.”

“I guess I didn’t realize that you’re missing out on all this,” Makoto said sarcastically. She gestured to her whole body.

Haru laughed. “I am missing out on all of this.” She ran her hand over Makoto’s chest and down her stomach.

Makoto shifted slightly, welcoming Haru’s touch. “Are we exchanging gifts for Christmas Eve then?” 

Haru looked less than enthusiastic about that. She made a pouty face. “I suppose that means if I want to get you something you have to get something for me,” she said as if it were a bad thing.

“That is indeed what exchange means,” Makoto said with a laugh.

“I want to get something for you but you don’t have to get me anything.”

“You’re always like this. Maybe what I’ll get you for Christmas Eve is sick. You deserve a cold for being such a brat.”

Haru gasped. “Take that back!”

Makoto rolled on top of her. “Never. Do you want this cold? I’ll give it to you!” She stuck her tongue out and leaned in to lick Haru’s face.

“No! No! Stop!” Haru said through her giggles. “Mako-chan, don’t get me sick! It’s Christmas!” She held Makoto back by the shoulders and turned her head to the side to try and at least get her mouth out of the immediate area that Makoto could lick. Makoto wasn’t trying very hard to get to her though so Haru didn’t feel too attacked.

Makoto pulled back and started to breathe in as if she were going to sneeze.

“No! Please!” Haru cried covering her face with her hands. “Don’t do this!”

Makoto turned her head at the last second and sneezed into her arm. She laughed. “I almost had you.”

Haru giggled along with her and petted Makoto on the head. Makoto had gone limp in her arms. “I did think you were going to sneeze on me for a second.”

“That would be gross and I’m not that horrible of a person,” Makoto mumbled. She coughed again. “I do think I tired myself out, though.”

Haru held her closer. “Why don’t you take a nap? Would you like some cold medicine?”

Makoto shook her head. “That’s alright. Can I nap out here though? I’d like to be with you if that’s alright.”

Haru nodded. “Of course. Go right ahead.” Haru sat up again and helped Makoto scoot further underneath the blanket. Of course, she was too big to fit under it all the way so Haru draped another blanket over her shoulders.

“Thanks,” Makoto murmured. She could already feel her body giving up on her. Her eyes closed. “But about your gift, seriously, Haru, can I get you something?”

Haru patted her head gently. “If you must… I can assure you I don’t need anything though.”

“I’ll think of something you’ll love,” Makoto said.

“You always do,” Haru whispered. She kissed Makoto’s cheek. “You’re so thoughtful that way.”

 

Christmas Eve finally arrived. Haru was sitting early in the morning by herself under the kotatsu. It wasn’t uncommon for her to wake up before Makoto and she was enjoying her coffee before the rambunctious energy of Makoto filled the air. She flipped the page in her book lazily. 

Her thoughts started to wander away. The dishes needed to be put away but that wasn’t very pressing of an issue. The laundry definitely needed to get done but that could at the very least wait another day. Perhaps she could dust the living room just to spruce it up a little bit, although it wasn’t like they made that much of a mess. The house was a little quiet. Maybe they should get a cat. They both liked cats and it would bring a welcome air into the home. Haru most certainly wouldn’t mind a buddy to cuddle with while she read in the early morning. She put a pin in that.

Her head perked up when she heard Makoto’s footsteps tromping down the hallway. Soon the footsteps were followed by Makoto with a tragic case of bedhead and her clothes wrinkled and askew. She sat down with a thud and tucked herself underneath the kotatsu. She nearly slammed her head on the table and let out a disgruntled sigh.

Haru tilted her head to the side. She’d barely had enough time to lift her mug of coffee before Makoto slammed herself down. She set it back down gently and ruffled Makoto’s hair. “Good morning. Someone is a grumpy bear today.”

Makoto made a noise that sounded like words but Haru couldn’t make them out.

“You’re that grumpy, huh?” Haru moved around the table and settled on her knees behind Makoto. She put her arms around Makoto’s neck, leaning on her back and nuzzling her face into the crook of her neck. “What’s wrong, darling?”

Makoto let out a happy hum. “You make everything ten times better, I hope you know,” she murmured. 

Haru giggled and kissed her neck. “I know I do. Now, what’s bothering you? We have a full day to be happy together.”

“Sis just texted me saying that if we could make it she’d like us to have dinner with her boy… friend tomorrow evening.”

“Oh, so you’re being a brat?” Haru teased. She began to kiss Makoto’s neck more seriously, her kisses lingering longer on her skin.

Makoto hummed again as her brain short-circuited. She tilted her head to the side to give Haru more space to work with. Haru gladly took the opportunity to pepper Makoto’s skin with more kisses. Makoto melted against the table, letting her arms sprawl out. Haru smiled into her kisses and tangled one of her hands in Makoto’s hair, gently pulling on it. Makoto was practically limp.

“Wait,” Makoto said, suddenly sitting up; Haru’s arm tightened around Makoto’s neck to keep from falling backward, “this isn’t what we were talking about! You distracted me. You sneaky…” She shook her head but she was smiling broadly.

“You’re much less tense now, though,” Haru pointed out. “You can think like a rational and mature adult.” She leaned more of her weight onto Makoto and started to rub her shoulders and down her sternum. 

Makoto had to admit she did feel much better. Her thoughts about the dinner were less angry and more subdued. She didn’t even seem to mind now. “You’re right. Thank you. Are we free to go then?”

“Absolutely.”

“And could you continue to kiss me?”

“Absolutely!” 

Haru continued to kiss Makoto until they both ended up on the floor kissing. Haru had ended up on top of Makoto, straddling her with her hands pressed firmly against her shoulders. Makoto trailed her fingers down Haru’s spine and Haru made a soft noise as she arched her back into the touch like a cat.

“Breakfast time?” Makoto asked softly. She rubbed down Haru’s back again and watched Haru’s face as she reacted to the touch. At least she wasn’t the only one who could be toyed with easily.

“I think I can whip up something,” Haru murmured through her muddled thoughts. “What would you like? Also, should we exchange gifts?”

Makoto perked up. “I almost forgot! Yes, yes! Let’s do that, please.”

Haru climbed off of Makoto and stretched. Makoto admired her from the floor and reached out to caress her leg. Haru rolled her eyes and stepped on Makoto’s stomach with a little bit of force.

“Don’t touch,” Haru scolded with no real malice behind it.

“But your legs are so soft and smooth. I wanna touch!”

Haru shook her head. “No. But thank you for noticing.”

Makoto laughed. “So what did you get me?”

“You’ll see.” Haru walked out of the room with a slight swish in her step like she was very happy.

Makoto watched her walk down the hall and then decompressed against the rug. She felt completely content. Also a little hungry. Perhaps they’d open gifts at home then head out to eat somewhere. She didn’t necessarily want to eat at home. Maybe they could even eat curry at Leblanc for breakfast. She was pretty sure that Sojiro had mentioned that they’d be open in the morning but close early so he could take Futaba out for dinner.

Haru came back down the hall with a wrapped box in her hand. “Here you go, darling. Enjoy.” She set it on the table then plopped down on the couch.

Makoto sat up and ripped into the box without hesitation. Inside she found a black leather bomber jacket. Makoto held it up, her mouth hanging open slightly. It was perfect. “I love this!” she said in awe.

“I’m glad you do. I thought you might like it if you ever get that motorcycle license you’re always telling me you’re going to get.”

Makoto nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! I’ll look so cool. Thank you, Haru. Let me get your gift!” Makoto scrambled out from under the table and skipped down the hall.

Haru lied back on the couch and enjoyed herself until Makoto came back and dropped a box on her stomach. Haru was a bit more careful unwrapping her gift and found two shirts inside both in a blush pink color. One was completely oversized and made of a fluffy fleece material. It was warm and soft. The second was a bit dressier being made of a more sheer material and having a small bow tied around the collar of it. Both were amazing and something she could find herself wearing as often as she could.

“They’re wonderful! And so pink. I love pink.” Haru smiled warmly at Makoto. “Thank you.”

Makoto smiled. “I do have to admit Ann gave me a couple of tips. I’m not… one for fashion.”

“That’s alright,” Haru said. “I still love them and you put in the effort.”

Makoto nodded and leaned over the back of the couch closer to Haru. “Can we go get breakfast at Leblanc?”

“Sure.”

  
When they reached Leblanc, Ren was behind the counter with Sojiro which was par for the course. At the counter, Ryuji and Futaba were seated, both of them eating plates of curry. Ren was the first to acknowledge the two girls entering the shop. He gave them a polite nod as they sat down at the counter.

Futaba wasted no time jumping into talking about a game that Sojiro bought her for the holiday as a thanks-for-helping-around-the-shop present. Haru leaned in slightly to listen to Futaba talk and Sojiro set down plates in front of her and Makoto. She gave him a kind smile and he returned it; although, his said, "Thank you for listening to Futaba."

When Futaba finally slowed down, Ren cut in to talk about the gift he got from Sojiro. It was just a box of chocolates, which he had already pawned half of to Ryuji. Even though it wasn’t much he was incredibly grateful to have received anything from Sojiro.

Ryuji went on talking about how his mom had asked him and Ren out to look at lights that evening and then go out to dinner. While Ryuji had hoped to have the evening alone with Ren they both thought it might be nice to spend time with Ryuji’s mom. Plus, she had said that Ryuji could spend the night at Ren’s place which Ryuji was more than excited for.

As they all finished their breakfasts, the conversation died down a bit. Futaba hopped off her stool and went over to a booth to play her game. Haru scooted closer to Makoto and leaned on her, her full stomach making her sleepy. Makoto rubbed her back softly.

“So who’s buying chocolate for Valentine’s Day this year?” Ryuji asked Ren as he stirred the last remnants of curry on his plate.

“I can’t remember. Did you buy it last time?” Ren asked.

“I think I did buy it last time but I don’t mind doin’ it again. I just wanna know because I want chocolate. If you’re not going to buy it for me then I’ll buy my own and yours too.”

“How sweet,” Ren said with a kind smile. “We could both get each other chocolate if that’s what you want.”

“I guess that’s still a couple months away. We have time to figure it out. What about you guys? Are you both going to get chocolate then?”

Makoto looked at Haru. “Haru should get me chocolate,” she said with certainty.

“Why’s that?” Haru asked looking at Makoto with a guarded yet curious expression.

“Because if I do it you’re going to get terrible chocolate. You’re a much better baker than I will ever hope to be. And if we make chocolate I’d like it to be at least edible.”

Haru laughed. “I see. We can make it together.”

Makoto smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “Now that would be something.”

After breakfast, Makoto and Haru went back to their apartment to relax for a bit. They spent their time like they usually did. Haru was reading while Makoto was watching anime on her phone. They had settled on opposite sides of the kotatsu and were happily in their own space. However, as much as it was normal, both girls were hyperaware of each other’s presence. There was definitely a hint of romantic tension in the air. The idea of picking up where they had left off earlier that morning was tempting.

Haru wasn’t acting on it for the sole reason that she had reached a very interesting point in her book. The interesting part just so happened to be sating her need to kiss Makoto. Or… perhaps it was making it worse. The main character and her main love interest had just entered her chambers. Her love interest started to kiss her and pushed her back on the bed. Haru could feel the heat starting to rise into her face.

Makoto glanced up from her show as a lull came over it. She noticed how Haru had hunched down over the book and her face and ears were pink, something Makoto only ever saw when she was embarrassed about something. Her eyes seemed absolutely glued to the page and she was biting her thumb. Makoto wondered what she could possibly be reading.

Haru was drinking in the words on the page. Things were heating up rather quickly. The main character had just had her shirt removed by her lover. It was definitely going to escalate from there. They were just beginning to touch—

“H-Hey!” Haru yelped as Makoto snatched the book from her hands. “Give that back!”

“What are you reading here? You seem very interested in it.” Makoto turned to the book and started to read out loud. “I didn’t want to let Velvet go. She was beautiful and crazy and we could never be together. I wanted her to…” Makoto faltered only for a second, “touch the pink folds between my—”

Haru had scrambled out from under that blanket and practically jumped on Makoto to grab the book out of her hands. “That is quite enough of that!” She snapped the book closed and slammed it down on the table. She turned around and sat on Makoto’s stomach, pressing her hands against Makoto’s shoulders. Her thumbs were digging in just a little more than necessary.

Makoto smiled through her wince. “You were reading a sexy lesbian romance? That’s why the air was so romantic.”

Haru looked away, digging her thumbs in deeper; Makoto made a face but didn’t make any noise. She wasn’t trying to hurt Makoto but she was incredibly embarrassed and didn’t want Makoto to press it further. “Ann recommended it. I didn’t know it had that much sex until I was too deep…”

Makoto laughed. She could easily push Haru off if she wanted to but she could tell that Haru was embarrassed about being caught reading such a book. “Of course Ann recommended it.”

Haru eased up on Makoto’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. I got embarrassed.”

“That’s alright. You can read whatever you want to read. Do you like reading that stuff?”

“Kind of,” Haru murmured. “It’s nice to imagine us as the characters sometimes…” She sat back suddenly and buried her face in her hands. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I just said that.”

Makoto was blushing now. “Oh my…”

“Can I crawl into a hole and die?” Haru asked. “I’m mortified.”

Makoto laughed. “It’s fine, Haru. I think that’s normal. I could’ve gotten you some books if I had known that’s what you wanted.”

“Don’t even mention it,” Haru said waving her hand. “Please.”

Makoto grabbed Haru’s hands and pulled her down on top of herself. Without saying anything, she started to kiss Haru gently. Haru eased into the kiss with her, letting her shoulders drop some of their tension. Well, they had finally succumbed to the merry mood, although most of it was Haru’s fault.

Haru felt Makoto’s hands on the bare skin on her back. A shiver ran up her spine at the touch. Makoto’s hands were cold and rough but that didn’t bother her too much. Haru leaned into their kiss more to let Makoto know the touch was welcome. Makoto’s hands drifted up and down her back, rubbing softly along her spine. Haru wasn’t sure if it felt incredible because the pressure felt nice or because it was coming from Makoto. Either way, she felt amazing.

Haru’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She jumped off of Makoto with a yelp of surprise and clutched at her chest as she leaned against the couch. Her breathing became short and sharp.

“I think that was your phone,” Makoto said gently. She hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor.

“Right,” Haru said with a long exhale. “Sorry. It scared me.”

“That’s alright,” Makoto assured her. “I’m going to go get something to drink. Do you want anything?”

Haru shook her head. “I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

Makoto got up slowly and tiptoed out of the living room and into the kitchen. Haru watched her for a moment, silently thankful that Makoto knew her well enough to know that she just needed a short break alone. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. If it was Ren, he was not going to live to see another day.

Haru was surprised to see Ann’s name pop up on her screen.

> **Ann** : Hey! Shiho and I wanted to go out for an early-ish dinner in Shibuya. We were wondering if you two wanted to tag along so it looked more like a girls night than a gays night. We aren’t looking to get any weird looks tonight.  
>  **Haru** : Yeah that would be fine.  
>  **Ann** : Thank you! Love you guys. We will come and pick you up around 16:00?  
>  **Haru** : We will be ready by then! (Hopefully. I can’t vouch for Makoto)  
>  **Ann** : .+(´^ω^`)+.

Haru had calmed down again as Makoto came into the room with an already half-eaten cookie and a glass of water. She plopped onto the floor and smiled. “All good?” Makoto asked.

Haru nodded. “Ann was asking if we wanted to go out to dinner with her and Shiho tonight so they can have a nice Christmas Eve dinner. I said yes.”

Makoto nodded and gave her a thumbs up. She’d just shoved the rest of the cookie into her mouth and couldn’t speak.

Haru grabbed a pillow from the couch and hugged it close to herself. She looked at Makoto sadly. “I’m sorry about getting startled. Did I hurt you at all when I jumped up?”

Makoto waved her hand dismissively. “I’m just fine. Don’t worry about me. As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.” She smiled brightly and scooted closer to Haru again.

Haru eased her grip on the pillow and reached out to bring Makoto to her side. She tucked herself underneath Makoto’s arm and cuddled up close. "I'm okay."

 

Dinner with Ann and Shiho went about as well as Haru would’ve imagined it to. Despite Ann saying she didn’t want it to be a gays night, she and Shiho were huddled close to each other the entire dinner and acting like quite a couple. That wasn’t to say that Haru minded. She was included in the conversation enough for her liking and her and Makoto got a nice meal out of the situation. If she was being honest, it was a better dinner than what she had been planning. In the end, it worked itself out.

After dinner, Ann and Shiho went their separate ways. By the way they were hanging on each other, Haru could tell where their night was heading. She recalled briefly that Ren and Ryuji were probably in the same boat after dinner with Ryuji’s mother. She wondered if Makoto had noticed and was feeling a little left out. Their Christmas Eve was probably going to end with Haru falling asleep in two seconds flat. She was already feeling the evening wearing on her.

The two ended up wandering around Shibuya looking at all the lights that were hanging around the city. Haru was clutching Makoto’s arm close to her chest, half as a cute gesture and half because she was starting to succumb to the cold. She couldn’t help the small tremors that happened every so often to try and keep her body warm. Her steps had started to drag and her eyes were beginning to feel a bit heavy.

“Getting tired?” Makoto asked as Haru’s steps faltered for the third time and she nearly tripped.

“Mmm,” Haru hummed. “Can you carry me?”

Makoto laughed softly and rolled her eyes. “Sure.” She lifted Haru up onto her back and started to carry her back towards their house.

One short train ride later and they were walking into their house. Haru stirred on Makoto’s back. She produced a small plant from her pocket and held it over Makoto's head. “Mistletoe,” she whispered. “Kiss me.” She slid down and leaned back against the door.

Makoto leaned her hand against the door next to Haru’s head. "I'm not even going to ask where you got that," she murmured. She tilted Haru’s head up with her other hand and kissed her softly. Haru wrapped her arms around Makoto’s waist and pulled her in closer. She made a soft noise and leaned against the door as much as she could.

Haru turned her head away to break the kiss and Makoto’s mouth fell against her jaw. “I love you, Mako-chan.”

“I have one more surprise for the evening if you’re feeling game,” Makoto murmured as she pulled away slightly.

Haru tilted her head. “What’s that?”

“I bought some Christmas themed bubble bath. I was thinking you could take a relaxing bath tonight then crawl into bed and be warm.”

Haru’s eyes lit up. “We can take a bubble bath?”

Makoto blinked in surprise. “We?”

“Let’s!” Haru said completely ignoring Makoto's surprise.

Haru ducked out from Makoto’s grasp and dashed into the apartment and down the hall. Makoto followed after her with a soft chuckle. She hadn’t expected Haru to be so excited about it. It was just a bubble bath after all.

Once in the shower, Makoto got the bath ready while Haru queued up music on her phone for them to listen to while they bathed. Makoto watched the tub, keeping Haru in the corner of her eye. She'd tied her hair up already in preparation for her bath and looked very pretty in the new shirt that Makoto had gotten her. Ann was right about that. Haru bit her bottom lip as she picked out a few more songs.

“Alright, it’s all set,” Makoto said once the bubbles had foamed up. “Let’s get ready.”

The two undressed and rinsed off. Haru climbed into the bath first and grabbed a handful of bubbles in her hands. She blew them at Makoto once she was fully in the bath. Makoto laughed and did the same to her.

“I haven’t had a genuine bubble bath in years!” Haru said as she started to relax in the tub. “The perfect end to the evening.”

Makoto smiled. “I’m glad you like it. I know you like baths so I wanted to make it a good one. I’m also glad you let me enjoy it with you.”

Haru nodded and pointed behind Makoto. “Lean against the wall over there.”

Makoto scooted back so she was lengthwise in the tub with her back against the wall. Haru moved closer to her and sat in her lap, her back to Makoto. She leaned back and guided Makoto’s arms around her waist. They were both blushing now.

“Is this okay?” Makoto asked gently. She could barely think straight. So much of her skin was touching Haru’s and it felt like she was on fire.

Haru nodded. She was a little too embarrassed to face Makoto so instead she focused on rubbing her thumb over Makoto’s arm. “This is okay. We can stay like this for a while.”

Makoto’s grip tightened slightly and Haru leaned back into her more. They were both quiet, only the sound of the bubbles popping and the soft music Haru had started filling the air. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.

Makoto pressed her lips against Haru’s shoulder. She hadn’t realized her gift to Haru would double as a gift to her. She had kind of figured Haru would take a bath by herself. Even when she imagined being invited, she hadn’t thought Haru would sit in her lap.

“You’re not thinking any lewd thoughts, are you?” Haru asked quietly.

Makoto chuckled. “No. I was actually thinking about how nice just this is. I didn’t think you’d invite me along in the bath with you like this.”

Haru shifted so she was as sideways as she could be in Makoto’s lap. She looped her arm around Makoto’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t want you to miss out on the bubble bath.” She tilted Makoto’s face towards her and gave her a soft look. “Would you mind if I kissed you?”

Makoto swallowed hard. “Go ahead.”

Haru’s mouth met hers gently at first then moved into a deeper kiss. Her hand on Makoto’s shoulder tightened its grip while her other hand came to rest right below Makoto’s neck. Her heart was pounding in her chest. What was she doing? She was being so bold but she felt okay.

Makoto moved her hand slowly off of Haru’s waist and rested it on the hand on her chest. She pulled it down lower letting Haru’s hand rest against her breast. Haru’s hands flexed reflexively, gripping her harder.

“Is that okay?” Makoto asked gently. “If it’s not, you can move your hand away.”

Haru moved her hand on her own now letting it trace the curve of Makoto’s breast. She could feel Makoto breathing heavily under her touch. Makoto made no move to stop her or press her forward. She just watched Haru’s face as she steadily moved her hand around Makoto’s chest.

Haru made a thoughtful noise then met Makoto’s eye. “Your skin is surprisingly soft compared to your hands.”

Makoto blushed brightly, her eyes widening. “That’s what you’re getting out of this?”

Haru smiled. “Yeah. I’m getting wrinkly and the water is starting to chill. Let’s head to bed.”

Makoto sighed and nodded. She hadn't expected that to go anywhere but her heart was still pounding uncontrollably. “That’s fine by me. But Haru…”

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas. And… thank you.”

“Merry Christmas,” Haru said again planting another kiss on Makoto.


End file.
